Gardai in Co Cork were yesterday investigating a collision in which an 11-year-old boy was fatally injured when the car he was travelling in was struck by a stolen car.
Shane Curtin, of Carrigrehan, Castlemartyr, was returning home with his mother, Margaret, sister, Aisling (14) and brother, Ciaran (7), from a trip to Perks Fun Fair in Youghal when a stolen black Honda ploughed into the back of their Toyota Corolla at around 8.20 p.m. on Thursday.
The collision took place on the main Cork-Youghal road about a mile outside Castlemartyr.
Firefighters had to use cutting equipment to remove all four members of the Curtin family from the wreck. They were rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital, where Shane died about two hours later.
Mrs Curtin, Aisling and Ciaran were yesterday described as stable.
"Any road death is tragic, but we're all just numbed by this and the way it happened," said one local resident.
Last night Mr John Curtin, the father of the dead boy, was being comforted by relatives.
According to one witness, the stolen car struck a bank after the crash and the driver jumped uninjured from the Honda. He fled into nearby woodlands. Gardai mounted a major search operation.
At about 1 a.m. yesterday a man was arrested under the Criminal Justice Act and taken to Midleton Garda station for questioning.
It is understood that the Honda had been stolen in the Youghal area about an hour earlier.