Two hospitalised as truck crashes into Liffey

The drivers of two trucks were injured when their vehicles collided this morning at Butt Bridge near Tara Street DART station in Dublin.

The collision happened at about 5.50 a.m. and caused one truck to hit the quay wall and partially enter the water.

The truck lies in the River Liffey this morning

The cab of the truck is now submerged in the River Liffey.

The area was closed off for some time as the drivers were helped from their cabs by the emergency services. The area was later reopened to traffic. Both drivers were taken to St James's Hospital and were treated for shock.

In December 2000, a Bus Éireann driver had a lucky escape when his vehicle crashed into the River Liffey at the same spot following a collision with a private bus.

The Bus Éireann bus after it crashed in the same spot in December 2000

Five people were injured in that incident. The driver of the Bus Éireann bus received a number of broken bones and was also treated for shock.

A homeless man who helped rescue the driver, and later returned to the streets to sleep in his wet clothes, and a Scottish civil engineer were later honoured by Irish Water Safety for their bravery. They jumped into the river and dragged the bus driver from his submerged vehicle and held him above water until help arrived.

The driver was winched to safety by a halter and extended crane. The crane, from a plant hire company in Tallaght, had been rushed to the scene with a Garda escort.

Dublin City Council said they had CCTV evidence showing that driver error was to blame for both crashes. It was therefore not a safety issue, the council said, and they accepted no responsibility for the incidents. Gardaí refused to comment on the cause of the crash, citing an ongoing investigation.

A council spokesman said work would begin on making the area safe as soon as the Garda operation was completed. The bill will then be sent to whoever was found to be at fault, he said.

The previous incident caused damage to the structure of the bridge that cost €30,000 to repair. Bus Éireann was charged for the work.