Four young people have been killed in a single vehicle road incident in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
It is understood that the single vehicle crash occurred at the Mountain Road, close to the Hillview Sports Complex, at around 7.30pm on Friday evening.
The male driver of the car, who was in his early 20s, and three female passengers, all adult teenagers, died in the incident. It is understood that the deceased man was the brother of one of the teenagers.
The deceased have been removed from the scene to South Tipperary General Hospital and post-mortem examinations will be conducted in the coming days.
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It is understood that the young people in the car were intending to travel to Carlow for post-Leaving Certificate result celebrations. There are indications that the car overturned while going down a hill.
Gardaí and members of Tipperary Fire Brigade, along with other emergency services, are at the scene.
Mountain Road is currently closed to traffic with local diversions in place. The road was expected to remain closed into Saturday.
Garda Forensic Collision Investigators are carrying out an investigation of the scene on Saturday. An incident room has been established at Clonmel Garda Station and a senior investigating officer has been appointed to lead the investigation.
Mayor of Clonmel, Cllr Richie Molloy, said that the crash was awfully sad news for the families and for the town itself.
“It is really shocking news,” he said on Friday evening. “At this stage we do not know who was involved but I know that there are a number of families receiving the most awful and tragic of news tonight.
“Today was a happy day for the young people who received their Leaving Cert results and this has cast a cloud of sadness and grief over the entire community, young and old. Everyone is thinking and praying for the families at this time. As a parent myself I can only imagine what the parents of these young people are going through.”
Pat English, Tipperary county councillor for Clonmel, said: “It’s just terrible for the families”.
“Our thoughts, our heartfelt feelings are going out to all families involved with this. The whole town will be in mourning over the next few days in memory of those young people who were just going out to celebrate the Leaving Cert and I never thought this would happen, no one thought this would happen [here], but it did just happen.”
Cllr John Fitzgerald said that the emergency services were on the scene as quickly as possible.
“On a Friday night that should be a happy night, but there’s a terrible cloud over the town, I think, with this tragedy tonight.”
An Garda Síochána said they were aware that “images of the immediate aftermath of this collision are circulating on social media and messaging apps. Out of respect to the deceased and their families, An Garda Síochána appeals for persons not to forward these images if received”.
Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to the collision to contact the investigation team. Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling in the Mountain Road area between 7pm and 7.45pm are asked to make this footage available to the Garda.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Clonmel Garda station on 052 617 7640, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
