A devastating road accident claimed five lives on an Ireland motorway last Sunday (16/8), when a wrong-way driver collided head-on with another vehicle, killing five teenagers and seriously injuring four others. The crash occurred at around 3am in County Kildare, on the M9 motorway between junctions 3 and 4, near the town of Athy.
5 dead and 4 injured in head-on motorway collision in Ireland
Irish police confirmed that all five fatalities were teenage boys. Their bodies were removed from the scene and taken to Naas General Hospital, where post-mortem examinations will be carried out. Four additional people were seriously injured and hospitalised. The driver and front passenger of the second vehicle — two women aged around 30 — remain in a critical condition.
A woman of approximately 20 years of age, who was seated in the back of the car, is also in a serious condition, as is a fourth passenger — a child.
Footage shows the scene on the M9 in Co Kildare, where a number of people have died and four others, including a child, have been seriously injured.
A vehicle travelling the wrong way on the M9's northbound carriageway collided with a second car.
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The Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, Justin Kelly, expressed his condolences to the injured and their families, stating: “My thoughts are with those injured in today’s collision on the M9. These family members were travelling unsuspectingly when they were struck by a vehicle travelling the wrong way on the motorway.” He added: “This horrific incident, following the recent collision on the M50, demonstrates just how reckless and dangerous it is to drive on the wrong side of a motorway.”
M9 CRASH: What we know so far, as several feared dead and four hospitalised, including a child.
The incident, involving a car going in the wrong direction, happened at around 3am this morning on the M9 northbound, between Junction 3 (Athy/Moone) and Junction 4 (Castledermot), Co… pic.twitter.com/RbbQ9j3ibv
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Appeal for witnesses and dashcam footage
The M9 motorway was closed in both directions between junctions 3 and 4 to allow forensic investigators to examine the scene.
Police have appealed for anyone who witnessed the crash to come forward and contact authorities. They are also asking drivers who were travelling on the M9 — either northbound or southbound — between 2am and 3am on Sunday morning and who have dashcam recordings to submit that footage to investigators.
“In some cases it’s done for social media likes”
Particularly striking was a comment made by the Garda Commissioner, who revealed that there have been documented cases of drivers engaging in this extremely dangerous behaviour in pursuit of social media attention. As he put it: “This, of course, should go without saying, but what makes this reckless behaviour even more appalling is that, in some cases, it is done for social media likes, with no regard for the potentially devastating consequences for innocent people — and for themselves.”
