TWO PEOPLE died and 10 people were injured in a crash on the N17 between Galway and Tuam last night. The crash occurred as severe weather lashed the country and threatened to cause flooding.
The incident involved a bus carrying students to Limerick from Mayo and a van which were travelling on the N17 in difficult driving conditions shortly before 8pm. It was on a stretch of the main road near the village of Glennafosha, three miles from Tuam.
Gardaí said two men, one in his 60s and one in his 30s, were fatally hurt. It is understood the men were drivers of both vehicles. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
HSE West ambulance and Galway fire brigade personnel, along with gardaí from Tuam, were despatched to the location. Some 18 of the 27 passengers on the bus were taken to hospital but only 10 were assessed to have injuries.
They were taken by ambulances to University Hospital, Galway for assessment. There was no one else in the van at the time of the collision, gardaí said.
Gardaí closed a section of the N17 between Claregalway and Tuam, and it is expected to remain sealed off early today for forensic examination. Diversions have been put in place for traffic.
Witnesses are asked to contact Tuam Garda station on (093) 70840, the Garda confidential telephone line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
In a separate incident, a pedestrian in her 50s who died after being knocked down by a car on the Roscommon-Galway border on Friday night was last night named as Nessa Byrne, originally from Circular Road in Tuam, Co Galway, who was living in Ballinasloe. She was struck by a vehicle on the old Galway-Dublin N6 road at Ballydangan, about 4km east of Ballinasloe town.
Two men died in separate road crashes over the weekend in Co Meath and Co Laois. In the first incident, a 30-year-old man was killed when the car in which he was a passenger was involved in a collision with two other vehicles on Saturday afternoon. The crash happened on the Virginia Road in Oldcastle at about 3.30pm.
Emergency services were called and the man was taken to Cavan hospital where he was pronounced dead. The driver was also injured, but his injuries were not life threatening.
In Laois, a 51-year-old cyclist died on Sunday morning after he was hit by a car. The incident happened on the Mountmellick to Emo Road at Knightstown, Mountmellick, at 9.15am.
Anyone with information on either crash should contact the Garda Confidential Line: 1800-666 111.
Gardaí have warned of continuing difficult driving conditions as the bad weather continues. The risk of flooding in coastal areas looks set to continue through tomorrow, according to weather forecasters. Dublin will be particularly vulnerable at noon today and the early hours of tomorrow.
Winds of up to 100km/h hit Belmullet on the west coast by 5pm last night as combinations of high tides, strong winds and low atmospheric pressure prompted flood precautions in many coastal areas.
Some inland areas were affected overnight due to leaves blocking drains, but Met Éireann forecaster Joan Blackburn said high seas were the main cause of concern.
She said the next high tide,which was due about midday in Dublin, would be a high-risk time for low-lying areas such as Sandymount and Clontarf, but she said winds which were predicted to be coming from a southerly direction would not be as strong today as last night.
Ms Blackburn warned the forecast for tonight and for about 1am tomorrow was for strong winds again, and this would combine with high tides and low pressure to create the highest risk time.
Dublin City Council and the Army have placed more than 500 one-tonne bags of sand, as well as thousands of smaller sandbags along the low-lying risk areas.
The council said St John’s Road East, Gilford Road and Avenue, Lea Road, New Grove Avenue and Seafort Avenue would remain closed until at least midday tomorrow. Car parks on the seafront at Clontarf and Sandymount will also remain closed until tomorrow. It warned it may also have to close the Coast Road at Clontarf from Alfie Byrne Road to Watermill Road.
