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Horror crash on back-to-school run
01.09.09
by Linda McGrory
A FIRST day back-to-school run turned to horror
yesterday when a mother and four young children,
from 1 to 10 years old, were injured in a two-car
crash in Carndonagh.
A three year old girl sustained the most critical of
the injuries in the accident that happened as the
young family drove the eldest child to her first day
back at school. The
mother, named locally as Louise McGeoghegan, her
one-year old son and ten-year old daughter,
were later discharged from Altnagelvin and
Letterkenny Hospitals, respectively. A four year old
girl, who was seriously injured, was transferred
from Altnagelvin to the Royal Hospital for Sick
Children where she was described last night as
stable. Her three-year old sister was also expected
to be transferred there from Letterkenny last night.
The accident happened around 8.40am at Mill Brae
near the town centre as the family drove out of a
supermarket car park and were involved in a
collision with an oncoming van.
The male driver of the van and a female passenger,
also from the north Inishowen area, were
hospitalised with minor injuries. |
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The young family,
who live in a local housing estate, were on their
way to drop the older sister to her first day back
at Glentogher National School, around 2km from the
accident scene. The two-teacher rural school was
shocked to learn of the seriousness of the accident.
Principal John Cannon said: "We know the family very
well as it is a very small school. Our thoughts are
with them all at this time."
Buncrana Garda Inspector David Kelly last night
appealed for witnesses to the accident. |
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"This was a very
serious accident involving young children. We are
fully investigating all the circumstances and would
appeal to any members of the public who saw the
accident to come forward." He said the road surface
was damp from overnight rain at the time of the
collision. The mother and her four year old daughter |
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were taken by ambulance
to Altnagelvin Hospital. The four year old was subsequently
transferred to the Royal for further treatment. The
three year old girl, meanwhile, underwent surgery in
Letterkenny but was later due to be transferred to the
Royal Hospital in Belfast so the two young sisters could be treated together. At one stage in
the day, their distraught father was torn as his
whole family were spread between three separate
hospitals – in Derry, Letterkenny and Belfast.
The scene of yesterday's accident is in a deep
hollow with steep inclines leading off in both
directions. A local plasterer Kenny Kelly, 27, died
last November - several days after his car crashed
into a wall at the same spot.
The scene was examined yesterday by a Garda forensic
team along with officers from the Divisional Scenes
of Crime Unit. Diversions were in place for most of
the day. One woman who was in a nearby shop
described hearing the loud bang of the impact. "I
thought it was someone moving the shop shutters and
thought nothing more about it. Then I saw all these
people running down the street towards the cars."
Meanwhile, Carndonagh parish priest Fr Con
McLaughlin travelled to Letterkenny General Hospital
to comfort the family. In a tragic
co-incidence, it has emerged that yesterday was also
the young mother’s 28th birthday. |
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