Five male teenagers have died and four other people were seriously injured in a head-on collision on the M9 motorway in County Kildare, Ireland, after a car was driven in the wrong direction, police confirmed.
The crash occurred at about 3am on Sunday at junction 3 of the motorway near Athy. Gardaí said the bodies of the five youths, all male, were removed from the scene. The occupants of the second vehicle—three women and a boy—were taken to hospitals with serious injuries.
Details of the collision
The Garda commissioner, Justin Kelly, described the incident as “horrific” and noted that in some cases, vehicles are driven on the wrong side of motorways for social media likes. The collision involved two cars, with one travelling southbound on the northbound carriageway.
Emergency services were alerted to reports of a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction. The female driver and front-seat passenger of the second car, both in their 30s, 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, also in a serious condition.
Police response and investigation
Commissioner Kelly 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.”
He added: “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 incident has been referred to Fiosrú, the police ombudsman, so Kelly said he was constrained in providing further details. He acknowledged that gardaí face challenging situations when dealing with such incidents.
Impact and appeals
The bodies of the teenagers were taken to Naas General Hospital, where postmortem examinations were due to take place. This crash follows a similar incident last weekend on the M50 in Dublin, where nine people were injured in a head-on collision involving a wrong-way driver.
Gardaí have appealed for witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage to come forward to assist with the investigation.
