Man killed in multi-vehicle crash in North Cork

Gardaí have appealed for witnesses after a man in his 70s died in a horrific multi-vehicle road traffic accident in north Cork yesterday.

The victim was named locally as Rod Sweetnam, 73, from Castlemartyr, near Mildleton in East Cork

He was pronounced dead at the scene after the cab of the truck he was driving separated from the vehicle after it struck up to four cars travelling in the opposite direction on the N20, about 400m south of Mallow town centre at lunchtime yesterday.

The occupants of three of the cars, three males and three females, aged in their mid teens to late 60s and a passenger in the lorry, a man in his late 20s, were taken to Cork University Hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

The two occupants of the fourth car involved were uninjured.

However, emergency services said it was a miracle that there were not further casualties given the scale of the crash, and given that competitors in a 10km road race were due to be running through the accident site a short time later.

The truck was travelling from Mallow towards Cork city when the accident happened shortly after 12.30pm.

Gardaí were last night still trying to establish what caused the accident but they confirmed that the truck jack-knifed and careered onto the opposite side of the road, striking up to four cars travelling towards Mallow.

One of the cars was pulling a horse box and the truck clipped the side of the car, before striking the horse box almost head on. The horse was catapulted on to the road and died instantly.

The truck then crashed into the ditch on the other side of the road, where its cab separating from the main vehicle.

Gardaí and emergency services responded immediately. Paramedics worked to save the driver and the Air Corps’s 112 aeromedical helicopter landed close by on standby to airlift him to hospital.

However, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Seven people in the other vehicles were taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital, where their injuries were described as non-life threatening.

Meanwhile, gardaí are also investigating a fatal road traffic collision on the R154, Trim Road, Warrenstown, Co Meath shortly before 4.30pm yesterday.

A man in his early 30s suffered fatal injuries when his motorcycle collided with a car. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His body has been taken to Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan.