'All hell broke loose' as two killed in Cavan car rally

A spectator has described how "all hell broke loose" after a car crashed into a crowd of spectators at a rally in Cavan this morning, killing two spectators and injuring an unknown number of others.

It is understood one of the cars competing in the Cavan Stages Rally lost control as it went over a bump on the road around 11.30am about a mile outside Bailieborough. The car crashed into a fence outside a house where spectators were standing.

Two people - a man and a woman - were pronounced dead at the scene, while several others were taken to hospital. The extent of their injuries is not yet known.

Spectator Matthew McMahon said he saw the car go over the crest of a road before he heard a car skid.

“I don’t know if something broke on the car or if he just lost control,” he told RTE radio’s This Week. "Then I just heard people screaming and people shouting: ’Red flag! Red flag! Stop the stage!’.

“Then all hell broke loose, basically, with people crying, people white as ghosts as if something serious had happened.

“And then someone mentioned somebody’s been killed and we found out how serious it was.”

The rally has been suspended while investigating officers carry out a forensic examination of the scene.