Five teenagers were killed in the m9 crash in Kildare after a car was driven the wrong way on the M9 in County Kildare at about 3am on Sunday. Four other people were seriously injured in the head-on collision near Athy.
Gardaí said the bodies of the five male teenagers were removed from the scene and taken to Naas general hospital for postmortem examinations. The occupants of the second vehicle — three women and a boy — were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Justin Kelly on Sunday
Justin Kelly described the collision as horrific and said the family members were travelling innocently when they were struck. He said: "These family members were travelling innocently when they were struck by a vehicle being driven the wrong way down the motorway."
He also said: "This horrific incident, after the recent collision on the M50, shows how irresponsible and dangerous driving on the wrong side of the motorway is."
Kelly added that in some cases the behaviour is being done for social media likes, regardless of the impact on innocent people and on the driver. He 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."
Hospital treatment after the crash
Gardaí said a female driver and front-seat passenger were taken to Tallaght university hospital in a critical condition. A female rear-seat passenger in her 20s was taken to St Luke's general hospital in a serious condition, and a child was taken to Children's Health Ireland at Crumlin in Dublin in a serious condition.
The crash involved two vehicles and happened at junction 3 of the M9 near Athy. Gardaí appealed for witnesses and dashcam footage as they continued to examine how the wrong-way vehicle reached the motorway carriageway.
Fiosrú referral
Kelly said the incident had been referred to Fiosrú, which limits what he can say in detail about the case. He also said: "Gardaí are put in a really challenging situation dealing with such incidents."
The immediate investigative focus is the path of the wrong-way car and the sequence of events before impact. That is the question left for the evidence, the witness footage, and the postmortem examinations to answer.
