Three teens killed in Tipperary crash

Three teenage boys were killed in a road crash, gardaí said today.

There were five people in the car, which lost control and hit a tree at around 7.30pm near Nenagh, Co Tipperary, yesterday.

The three were aged 14, 16 and 17.

One was pronounced dead at the scene and the other two at Nenagh General Hospital.

The remaining two occupants – a 16-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy – were taken to the Mid Western General Hospital at Limerick where their condition is described as serious.

“The road is currently closed and the examination of the scene by Garda forensic collision investigators is continuing,” a Garda spokesman said.

Gardaí said all five teenagers were from the Nenagh area.

The accident happened on the road between Nenagh and Dolla.

Labour Party Councillor and town mayor Virginia O’Dowd extended her sympathies to the families involved, and said: "It is an awful tragedy ... on the first day of the new year."

“Three young lives lost and two seriously injured and my thoughts are with their families and friends.” Labour Tipperary North Senator Alan Kelly said.

“My thoughts first and foremost must be with the families of those boys whose lives were lost last night and of the boy and girl who today are being treated for their injuries,” Senator Kelly said.

“To lose a child is an unimaginable burden for any parent to bear, particularly at a time when people are looking forward with a sense of anticipation and expectation, to the coming year.

“I would like to express my deepest sympathies to them.”

Local parish priest Fr Tom Seymour, who was called to Nenagh General Hospital to attend to the injured, described the scene as horrific.

“It was a terrible scene, all the young people were around and their parents,” he said.

The Road Safety Authority yesterday revealed 2008 had the lowest number of road deaths since records began in 1959.

The latest deaths brought the total for the year to 279.