Carnage on roads as three die in separate incidents
Lawless/pa Dublin, Scene Woman Wire Died Investigators A At Garda Following Run Collision Forensic After A Picture: In The North And Hit Incident Rd Brian In Phibsborough
It has been another period of carnage on Irish roads, with three deaths in separate incidents, and a five-car crash forcing the M50 to close for hours.
As gardaí searched for the driver of a hit-and-run in Dublin on Wednesday night, a man in his 70s died following an accident involving a car and a pedestrian in Limerick the same evening.
On Thursday afternoon, a van driver in his 40s died following a collision with a car in Kilsheelan near Clonmel in Tipperary.
Meanwhile, a five-car crash forced the closure for hours of the M50 northbound from Junction 13 Dundrum on Thursday afternoon.
While there were no fatalities reported, it led to severe congestion until the road was reopened in the evening.
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) is investigating after the woman was killed in the suspected hit-and-run incident in Dublin.
The female pedestrian in her 60s was struck by a car on Phibsborough Rd at around 9.10pm on Wednesday.
The woman was crossing the road with her husband, a former garda, when she was struck.
It is believed that Gsoc is investigating as the car had been chased by a Garda traffic unit vehicle just before the incident occurred.
The 07D silver Honda Civic failed to remain at the scene.
However, gardaí recovered it in the wider Phibsboro area a short time later and it has since undergone examination.
Emergency services personnel attended the scene of the incident, but the woman was pronounced dead a short time later.
Gardaí issued an appeal for witnesses, and to anyone who may have seen the silver 07D Honda Civic in the wider Phibsborough area around the time of the incident.
In Limerick, gardaí and emergency services attended the scene of the collision involving a car and a pedestrian on the N69 Glin to Tarbert Rd at approximately 10pm.
A man, aged in his 70s, was pronounced dead at the scene.
In Tipperary, a man in his 40s died following a collision on the N24 near Kilsheelan.
The driver of a van was pronounced dead a short time later, while the driver of a car, a woman aged in her 40s, was seriously injured during the crash and was being treated at University Hospital Waterford.
There have been 138 deaths on Irish roads in 2023, an increase of 25 on the same period last year, and an increase of 31 for the same months of 2019, the year before the covid-19 pandemic restricted travel.
The number of fatal accidents has increased to 128 this year, up from 108 in the same months last year, and up from 97 in 2019.