‘Miracle escape’ for 11 children injured in crash

A home owner close to the scene of a head-on collision on Monday in Kerry said it was a miracle escape for 11 injured children.

Civil engineer Nigel Brosnan revealed yesterday he had been campaigning for some time for road improvements at a severe bend in Farranfore, where the accident occurred.

The injured were in a nine-seater minibus carrying a West Cork family and also in a rental car, with an English family of two adults and three children.

The collision took place on the dangerous bend 20 metres from Mr Brosnan’s home at Knockaderry Hill on the N22, the main national primary road from Killarney to Tralee.

“This is an accident blackspot and had, at one stage, been marked as such,” Mr Brosnan said.

“I have been on to both the National Roads Authority and Kerry County Council to do something with the bend. It’s a miracle no one was killed,” he said.

He recalled four to five serious accidents in the past two years at the bend.

Just recently, he said, a Mercedes coming from the Killarney direction careered across the road into his ditch. He also pointed to recent truck marks of a skidding lorry that narrowly missed his home before Christmas. He remains concerned about a vehicle crashing into his property.

The accident between the minibus and the hired Peugeot saloon car occurred around 5.30pm on Monday. The Renault Trafic minibus, pulling a trailer, accommodated a number of Burke family members from Bantry. They had been travelling in the direction of Killarney while the second vehicle was heading towards Farranfore.

Following the collision, 11 children were hospitalised and a major emergency response initiated.

A number of fire brigades, 10 ambulances and four helicopters — the Coast Guard aircraft from Shannon and Dublin and two Air Corps helicopters — were dispatched to the scene on the main Killarney-Tralee road.

Six of the more seriously injured, five children and a man in his 40s, were removed to Cork University Hospital.

While most of the injuries were said to be minor, two of the children, including a three-year-old boy, received serious head injuries.

Nine people were taken to Kerry General Hospital in Tralee, and most have now been released.

The number of people involved necessitated a major emergency response in terms of ambulances and medical staff, the HSE said.

The National Ambulance Service deployed 10 ambulances, two rapid response vehicles, and two doctors to the scene.

A baby seat as well as Santa hats were strewn along the road after the crash.

Gardaí in Tralee said the trailer attached to the white minibus broke free after the collision and was not a factor in the crash. They are appealing for witnesses.

The road was forensically examined yesterday as an investigation into the cause of the accident continued.

Meanwhile, according to Mr Brosnan, over 8,000 vehicles use the road daily. The civil engineer believes the road, in its present condition, is not capable of handling that volume of traffic. He suggested that barriers should be erected at the dangerous bend.

However, a spokesman for Kerry County Council said the road was well-marked with a continuous white line, indicating no overtaking.

Plans for a 26km scheme to upgrade the road have been put on hold for a number of years due to a lack of funding, the council confirmed.

The road re-opened at9pm on Monday.

It emerged that the Burkes, a settled Traveller family in Bantry, had been visiting relatives in Tralee. They also have Waterford connections.