Bus stop crash drivers quizzed

The two bus drivers involved in an accident in which five people died in Dublin were interviewed by gardaí tonight as one of the victim’s bodies was flown home to the Ukraine.

Vasyl Tyminskyy was accompanied by his wife, Svitlana and 11-year-old daughter Khrystyna on his final journey following a special memorial service in Lucan, Co Dublin.

Svitlana and Khrystyna are not expected to return to Ireland in the wake of the tragedy.

Mr Tyminskyy was talking to his daughter on his mobile telephone when a bus ploughed into him as he waited at the Wellington Quay bus stop in Dublin city centre on Saturday afternoon.

Three Irish women and an Irish man were also killed when the out of service bus passed another on the inside and mounted a kerb before slamming into a group of passengers queuing to board the stationary bus.

The two drivers were initially too traumatised to speak to gardaí about the accident.

However, a spokeswoman for the state owned Dublin bus company said a decision to interview the men had been taken after receiving medical advice.

Hundreds of mourners at St Mary’s Church were told Mr Tyminskyy worked every hour God sent to support his family.

The 33-year-old plasterer moved to Dublin with his wife and daughter three years ago before settling in Lucan’s Kew Park.

The couple were due to celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary on Sunday, the day after the accident which claimed his life.

The family had not intended to permanently settle in Dublin and Mr Tyminskyy had planned to return to the Ukraine next month to pick out a site for his family’s new house.

However his wife and daughter must now make that decision alone.

Father Philip Bradley, who officiated at the mass, said Mr Tyminskyy would be sorely missed by his neighbours.

“He was very popular in the area and worked very hard to provide for his family,” he said.

“His daughter attended the local school and everyone knew him through that.

“I think his plan was to make a bit of money and return to the Ukraine to build a house for his family.”

Mr Tyminskyy’s wife lit a candle during the service in recognition of the couple’s Eastern Orthodox religious beliefs.

A choir consisting of friends of his daughter from the nearby St Mary’s School sang hymns throughout the proceedings.

Khrystyna also read out a prayer in perfect English.

“Thank God for my darling Dad and all the love he gave me and my Mum and all the happy times we shared as a family,” she said.

“We will always think of him with love.”

Fr Bradley told Svitlana and Khrystyna that the people of Lucan would not forget them.

“We will be thinking of them and they of us,” he said.

“We will remember them, there’s a welcome here in Ireland for them.”

Mr Tyminskyy’s was the first service to be held for any of the victims of the accident.

Kevin Garry, a 43-year-olD Salvation Army worker of Leixlip, Co Kildare, will be buried after a funeral mass in the town tomorrow.

Margaret Traynor, 59, from Tulip Court, Darndale in Dublin will also be buried in Leixlip on Friday.

Teresa Keatley, a 43-year-old mother of three from Sillogue Avenue, Ballymun in Dublin will be buried in the city on Friday.

Funeral arrangements for 69-year-old mother of four Kathleen Gelton have not yet been finalised.

Her daughter Nuala is understood to be one of seven people injured in the crash who remain in a stable condition in hospital.