Two men arrested in connection with Monaghan crash that killed teens on way to debs

Kiea McCann and Dlava Mohamed

Two men have been arrested after a crash in Co Monaghan in which two teenage best friends were killed as they were on their way to a debs ball.

The collision, which occurred at Legnakelly near Clones on July 31, resulted in the deaths of 17-year-old Kiea McCann and 16-year-old Dlava Mohamed.

The two girls were passengers in a car travelling to a secondary school debs ball at the time of the accident. 

Hundreds attended the funerals of the students, who had been close friends since Dlava’s family arrived in Clones as part of a resettlement programme for Syrians.

A further three people were injured in the collision. All were travelling in the same vehicle.

On Friday, two men aged in their 60s and 40s were arrested and are currently being held at a Garda station in Co Monaghan.

Gardaí said investigations are ongoing.

There has been a renewed focus by the Government on road deaths this year since the Co Monaghan crash, and another fatal accident in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, in which four young people, including a brother and sister were killed.

According to Garda statistics, 177 people have died on Irish roads so far this year. That is 28 more people than in 2022.