Clones mourns for teenage best friends killed on way to Debs ball
People form a guard of honour as the hearse carrying the remains of Kiea McCann arrives to the family home in Clones, Co. Monaghan. Picture: Alan Hamilton
The community in Clones last night stood as one in the town's rain-soaked streets to pay tribute to 17-year-old Kiea McCann, who was killed on the way to her Debs ball on Monday night.
Kiea, 17, and her best friend Dlava Mohamed, 16, both sixth-year students at Largey College in Clones, were killed in a single-vehicle crash on the N54 at around 6.45pm on Monday when the car they were travelling in hit a tree.
The accident left a further three people injured and in hospital, including the 18-year-old older sister of Dlava. She is in Cavan General Hospital in a critical but stable condition.
A 60-year-old male driver of the car remains in a critical condition in Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. An 18-year-old male teenager continues to receive treatment in Cavan General Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
An 18-year-old boy who was a passenger in the car is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
In a notice on RIP.ie, Kiea's family said: "Kiea will be forever missed and always loved by her mum Teresa, her father Franky, her brothers and sisters; Brandon, Jentzen, Frankie, Michaela, Shauna, Shaunice, Tameaka, Tanisha, Amelia and her wide circle of best friends and family."
The remains of Kiea McCann arriving into Clones tonight where her community did a guard of honour pic.twitter.com/DoAkdq411m
— Alison O’Reilly (@AlisonMaryORE) August 2, 2023
In the death notice, for Dlava Mohamed, who is originally from Syria, it said the 16-year-old was a "cherished and much loved daughter" of Hohamed and Zenab Mohamed. It said Dlava will be sadly missed by her brothers Mostafa and Rashid and her sisters Lilov, Asmahan, Auin and Giham. Her funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.
Last night, Kiea's body was brought from Clerkins funeral back to her home town of Clones, where the local community came out in strength to show its support by providing a guard of honour.
Superintendent Patrick O'Connell said a senior investigating officer had been appointed and a case conference held at Monaghan Garda Station, he but could not give details of the focus of the Garda investigation.
Speaking to the media at Clones Garda Station on Tuesday evening, he said the collision took place “when a single vehicle, which was carrying five people, left the roadway and collided with a tree”.
Mr O’Connell said that he and the families of the victims are “eternally grateful” to members of the public who stopped to give assistance at the scene of the Monaghan crash.
“As you can imagine, there was a lot of people, a lot of vehicles travelling. It would have been after work time, after 6pm, so there was a lot of people who stopped and gave assistance and we are eternally grateful to that as are the families.
He said that the families affected are “hugely devastated”, and asked that their peace and privacy be respected.
“(They are) suffering from shock and trauma. They were at the scene last night, so they’re trying to deal with the whole aftermath of that and we’re there to try and support them.
The tragic deaths come as latest figures from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) show 23 16–25-year-olds were killed up to 26 July.
The RSA said that as of August 1, there have been 100 deaths on the road. This is an increase of 11 fatalities compared to the same date last year.
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