Five teenage boys were killed in the early hours of Sunday morning when a car travelling the wrong way collided head-on with another vehicle.
The crash took place on the M9 motorway in County Kildare at approximately 3am between junctions 3 and 4, near Athy.
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Emergency services had been alerted to a vehicle heading southbound on the northbound carriageway before the fatal impact occurred.
All five victims were travelling in the same car.
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Their remains were transported to Naas General Hospital, where post-mortem examinations are due to be carried out.
Four people from the second vehicle sustained serious injuries and remain in hospital.
Among them is a male child.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly described the collision as a “horrific incident,” stating that “these family members were travelling innocently when they were struck by a vehicle being driven the wrong way down the motorway.”
He drew a connection to a similar wrong-way crash on the M50 last weekend, in which nine people were injured.
Mr Kelly said: “That, of course, should be self-evident, but what makes this reckless behaviour even more appalling is that in some cases it is being done for social media likes regardless of the potentially devastating impact it might have on innocent people and themselves.”
The Commissioner noted that the matter had been referred to Fiosrú, the Police Ombudsman, which limited what he could disclose about the specific circumstances.
The two front occupants of the second car, the female driver and a female passenger, both in their 30s, were rushed to Tallaght University Hospital, where they remained in a critical condition.
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A woman in her 20s who had been seated in the rear was taken to St Luke’s General Hospital with serious injuries.
The child was transferred to Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, also in a serious condition.
According to RTÉ, gardaí confirmed that no police pursuit was taking place at the time of the collision.
Forensic collision investigators have since completed their examination of the scene.
The stretch of motorway between junctions 3 and 4 was expected to reopen shortly.
Fiosrú said that its on-call investigators attended the crash site and that an independent inquiry is under way.
The watchdog stressed that a referral does not automatically suggest any garda has been accused of wrongdoing, but rather that the office must establish whether any police action or inaction contributed to the deaths or injuries.
Sinn Féin TD for Kildare South Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh called the scenes “absolutely catastrophic,” adding: “This loss of life is colossal and the effect those losses will have on their friends and families is incalculable.”
She also expressed sympathy for first responders who were “met with the most horrific of scenes.”
Gardaí have urged any witnesses or motorists with dashcam footage from the M9 between 2am and 3am on Sunday to come forward.
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