A girl told how she shouted a warning to two of her friends an instant before they were killed when they were struck by a pickup truck as they returned home from school, an inquest in Cork heard yesterday.
Stacy O'Mahony (14) was just a few feet behind her friends, Jennifer McCarthy (14) and Laura Wyse (14), when they were hit as they crossed Fairfield Road on Cork's north side on February 1st.
"They were just in the middle of the road when I saw a van coming up Fairfield Road and I shouted to them to watch out. They looked back at us and tried to get out of the way. The van skidded and hit them and they were blown up in the air," said Stacy.
The truck-driver, Mr James O'Donoghue (59), said he swerved to try and avoid four girls but hit the first two, Laura and Jennifer. "They just ran out in front of me. I had no chance of avoiding them. I swerved to my right but I hit two of them," said Mr O'Donoghue.
He was doing 30 m.p.h. at the time and had no problems at all with visibility going up Fairfield Road, he said.
Mr O'Donoghue commiserated with the families of both dead girls.
Insp John O'Brien said the accident had been fully investigated and a file sent to the DPP, but the DPP had recommended that there be no prosecution.
The jury of four women and two men returned verdicts of accidental death in both cases.
The coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane, said she hoped the conclusion of the inquest would help both families to come to terms with their dreadful loss.