Three teens killed in Kerry crash

Three teenagers are dead and two more have been seriously injured following an horrific car crash in Co Kerry.

Three teenagers were killed and two others seriously injured when their car hit a tree today.

The dead include a 17-year-old youth and his brother, who is believed to have been 15.

The dead girl is also thought to have been 15.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) confirmed one of the injured teenagers remains in a critical condition, while the second is critical but stable.

Five ambulances attended the scene.

Gardaí investigating the incident, which happened shortly after 7am on the N72 at Barraduff, appealed for witnesses to come forward.

No other vehicles were involved.

The road was closed for a technical examination and diversions were in place.

It was believed that two brothers from the local area were among the three dead.

Kerry County Councillor Brendan Cronin said: “It’s devastation, absolute horror and devastation.

“My heart goes out to those families.

“We don’t know who they are yet, but it’s a sad day for those young people.”

The accident is said to have happened on a straight stretch of the main Killarney to Mallow road.

The three fatalities take the number of people killed on Irish roads so far this year to 136.

Today’s crash happened just a month after eight men were killed in one of the worst road accidents in the history of the state.

Seven of the dead, from three parishes across Inishowen, were in a car which collided with another vehicle on a notorious stretch of road, near Buncrana in Co Donegal, before ploughing into a third.

The driver of the third car, a man in his 60s returning home after an evening at bingo, was also killed.

Road safety chiefs offered their sympathies to their families of the three dead teenagers.