Irish girl (15) dies in New York crash

Tributes have been paid to an Irish teenager who was killed after a car crashed into a group of pedestrians in New York.

Kalie Gill (15) died on Friday while her sister Lindsey (12) was also injured and is in a critical condition in hospital.

The incident happened when an out-of-control SUV hit a group of people at a church carnival in Yonkers at about 9pm on Friday night, according to US media reports.

The teenager had moved from Co Leitrim to New York with her family earlier this year.

In a statement on its website last night, St Barnabas High School in the Bronx said that on Friday “sophomore Kalie Gill was tragically killed and her 12-year sister Lindsey, a student at St Barnabas Elementary School, is in critical condition. Our deepest condolences are sent to the Gill family on their inconsolable loss as well as our prayers on a full recovery for Lindsey”. Many people sent condolences to the family and paid tribute to the girl on the school’s Facebook page.

The girl’s parents, Damien and Karen Gill are from the Leitrim outside Ballinamore, local Fine Gael councillor Gordon Hughes said today.

They had moved to New York many years ago and returned to Ireland in 2006 where Mr Gill ran a business, he said. The family returned to the United States earlier this summer, he said. Mr Gill's mother had recently died in Leitrim, he said.

People in the area were “in a state of shock” at what happened, he told RTÉ Radio. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them,” he added.

Hundreds of people attended a candle-light vigil in Yonkers on Saturday for the teenager. Prayers were read by many including the teenager’s classmates

The incident happened at the St Paul’s Parish Octoberfest and Carnival at McLean Avenue and McCollum Place, US media reports said. Rev James Healy, pastor of St Paul the Apostle Church in Yonkers said in a video interview he prayed that the “family will some consolation in knowing that the child lives with the Lord”.