Fatal head-on collision on the M9
Five teenagers have died and four other people were seriously injured in a head-on collision on a motorway in Ireland after a car was driven in the wrong direction, according to police. The crash occurred in the early hours of Sunday on the M9 in County Kildare, at junction 3 near Athy, at about 3am.
The Gardaí confirmed that the bodies of the youths, all male, had been removed from the scene. The occupants of the second vehicle — three women, two in their 30s and one in her 20s, and a boy — all remained in hospital with serious injuries. The female driver and front-seat passenger were taken to Tallaght University Hospital in 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 a serious condition. The bodies of the teenagers were taken to Naas General Hospital for postmortem examinations.
Emergency services had been alerted to reports of a vehicle travelling southbound on the M9 northbound carriageway. Gardaí are appealing for witnesses or dashcam footage of the collision.
Officials link crash to 'reckless behaviour'
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly described the head-on collision as "horrific." He said: "These family members were travelling innocently when they were struck by a vehicle being driven the wrong way down the motorway. This horrific incident, after the recent collision on the M50, shows how irresponsible and dangerous driving on the wrong side of the motorway is. 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."
Kelly noted that the incident has been referred to Fiosrú, the police ombudsman, limiting what he could say in detail. He added: "Gardaí are put in a really challenging situation dealing with such incidents."
Ireland's taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said the M9 crash was the latest in a series of incidents involving vehicles driven on the wrong side of motorways. "There can be no tolerance for this reckless behaviour that we have seen on our roads recently. It must stop," he said.
Earlier related incidents
Kelly said the M9 crash followed a similar collision on Dublin's M50 motorway. Last weekend, nine people were injured in a head-on collision on the M50 involving a car travelling in the wrong direction. The M50 crash involved a stolen vehicle carrying teenagers that was driven the wrong way, causing multiple serious injuries. In another incident earlier in August, footage filmed inside a stolen car while it was being pursued by police emerged on social media.
Wider context of wrong-way crashes
In a separate development, twelve people have died in less than a week in accidents in England and Ireland involving cars being driven the wrong way on major roads. Seven people, including two serving police officers, died early on Saturday in a crash on the main A66 road near Middlesbrough in northeastern England. Authorities are investigating the exact circumstances but said the collision followed a pursuit of a suspicious vehicle which ended up being driven the wrong way and colliding with a police car that was on the correct side of the road.