Two young men have died following a crash between a car and lorry in Co Donegal.
Emergency services attended the scene of the crash outside the village of St Johnston that took place at about 11.15pm on Tuesday.
A male passenger aged in his late teens was pronounced dead at the scene. His remains were brought to the morgue at Letterkenny University Hospital.
A second male passenger, also aged in his late teens, was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry, where he was later pronounced dead.
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The male driver of the car, aged in his late teens, was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital for treatment of serious injuries and was later transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
Postmortems will take place in due course and the coroner has been notified.
No other injuries were reported.
Local parish priest has told of the shock and sadness in the area.
Fr Damien Nejad told RTÉ Radio’s News at One he had received a call at 1am that there had been a serious crash.
On arriving at the scene, he saw a car in the ditch and a lorry “stranded” in the middle of the road. “I said a prayer over the body of a young man. It was very, very sad.”
There was great shock in the area that such an incident could happen, he said.
Foyle SDLP MP Colin Eastwood told RTÉ there was “a big group of friends in the area in a bad way. They are all devastated.”
The whole community was shocked, he said. It was devastating and the people of Derry would be concerned for the families and friends of the deceased, he added.
The R236 road is closed for technical examination by Garda forensic collision investigators, with local diversions in place.
Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to the incident to come forward.
Road users who may have camera footage and were travelling in the area between 10.45pm and 11.45pm on Tuesday February 24th, 2026, are asked to make this footage available to investigating gardaí.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Letterkenny Garda station on (074) 9167100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any other Garda station.
A Garda spokesperson confirmed the road will remain closed for several hours, adding: “Diversions are in place. The road is expected to remain closed for a number of hours. Please take an alternative route if possible.”
There have been 39 road fatalities so far this year, including 18 in January and 21 in February.
Since Saturday, there have been 11 road deaths, including the two in Donegal on Tuesday.
A 16-year-old Mia Lily Keogh O’Keeffe died in a hit-and-run in Co Meath.
A couple in their 40s, Brian and Grace Frisby, died in a two-car crash in Tramore, Co Waterford.
Three people died in a crash on the Moy Road, Co Tyrone, and a woman in her 80s was killed in a single-vehicle crash at Eyrecourt, Co Galway.
A motorcyclist in his 50s died in a road traffic collision in Co Sligo.
A man aged 36 died in a following a two-vehicle crash in Co Tyrone.
