Crashes in Cork and Offaly claim the lives of two men

GARDAÍ IN Cork and Offaly have launched separate investigations after two road traffic collisions yesterday that claimed the lives of two men, including one man who died when his van collided with a Bus Éireann coach.

A German man in his 60s was fatally injured when the van he was driving collided with a Bus Éireann coach on the main Cork-Skibbereen road at about 11.40am yesterday. Rainer Wischniewski, a father of two from Kilnaglash in Skibbereen, had been living in west Cork for around 20 years.

The coach, with a driver and six passengers on board, was approaching the “Pike”, two miles west of Clonakilty, when the collision occurred.

The driver of the bus suffered minor injuries and was brought to Bantry General Hospital, where her condition was described as “comfortable”, while a passenger taken to Cork University Hospital was said to be “stable”.

The remaining five passengers on the bus were assessed by HSE paramedics at the scene and found to be uninjured. They later resumed their journey to Skibbereen on a replacement coach.

Gardaí in Clonakilty closed a section of the N71 between Clonakilty and Rosscarbery for over six hours to allow a Garda forensic investigator examine the scene, while both vehicles were removed for mechanical examination by a Garda public service vehicle (PSV) inspector.

Meanwhile, gardaí in Moneygall, Co Offaly, have appealed for witnesses to a fatal collision that claimed the life of a 34-year-old man when his car collided with a cow on the N7 at Clashagad, Dunkerrin, Co Offaly.

The collision happened shortly after midnight on Thursday and the man, the sole occupant of the car, was removed by ambulance to Nenagh General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2am yesterday.