Woman loses life in freak accident in Galway

Gardaí in Galway have appealed for witnesses after a young woman lost her life in a freak accident in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The woman, in her early 20s, died after falling from a van when the back doors of the vehicle opened as it was turning at a junction near Moycullen, about 10km west of Galway City.

It is understood there were seven people in the van at the time of the incident, which happened at 2.20am at the junction with the Barna road on the N59 between Galway and Moycullen.

They are believed to have attended a social event earlier that night.

Gardaí believe that two people were in the front of the vehicle, with five others in the rear of the van when the tragedy happened.

The deceased woman, Cliodhna Thornton from Coismeigmór, Furbo, died from injuries she suffered when she fell from the vehicle.

A second woman was injured when she too fell from the vehicle as it turned onto the Barna road.

She was taken to University Hospital Galway, where her condition was yesterday described as stable.

A postmortem was due to be carried out on the body of the deceased young woman.

Relatives and friends were yesterday comforting her family. Her parents are well known in the area and are deeply involved in initiatives in the local community.

No arrests have been made. Gardaí have appealed for witnesses and are anxious to speak to anyone who was travelling on the N59 Galway-Moycullen road or the Barna-Moycullen road, between 1.45am and 3.15am yesterday.