Gardaí questioning driver of car after passenger dies in Cork crash

Local Independent Cork county councillor, Alan Coleman, said the sense of shock in Innishannon village today is “palpable”

Gardaí are questioning the driver of a car after one of his five passengers died in a single vehicle crash in Co Cork in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Emergency services attended the scene of the fatal road traffic incident in the townland of Ballynamona, about 4kms north west of the town of Kinsale, shortly after 1.30am on Saturday morning.

The victim, a man in his 40s, was one of six people – four men and two women who are all known to each other - in the car which was being driven on the L3201 from Kinsale towards Innishannon when the incident occurred near Kinsale Golf Course.

The car apparently went out of control, struck a sign and then hit a tree stump.

Gardaí, fire and ambulance crews rushed to the scene but the man in his 40s, who was single and from the Innishannon area, was pronounced dead at the scene.

His body was removed to the mortuary at Cork University Hospital where a post-mortem examination will be carried out to establish the exact cause of death.

The others escaped with minor injuries, with just one taken to hospital.

Local Independent Cork county councillor, Alan Coleman, said the sense of shock in Innishannon village today is “palpable”.

“It is an awful tragedy. The village is just in a complete state of shock. Everyone has been affected by this,” he said.

The driver of the car, a man in his 30s, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of offences under the Road Traffic Act.

He is being detained at a garda station in Cork under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

The road at Ballynamona has been closed, with local diversions in place, to facilitate a technical examination by forensic collision investigators.

Gardai said their investigations into the incident are ongoing and they appealed for any witnesses to this collision to come forward.

They specifically appealed to any road users who were travelling in the Ballynamona area between 1.15am and 1.45am, and who may have camera footage, including dash-cam footage, to come forward.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Bandon Garda Station on 023 885 2200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

This latest road fatality brings to 109 the total number of people to die on Irish roads so far this year, up 14 compared to the same period last year.