GARDAÍ IN Laois are seeking the assistance of a lorry driver and other witnesses who may have been in the vicinity of a fatal traffic incident on the main Dublin to Limerick road yesterday morning.
The two-vehicle crash, which occurred on the N7 near Mount-rath shortly before 7.30am, claimed the lives of two construction workers from Limerick.
The two men, aged 22 and 24, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on the N7 between The Pike of Rushall and Castletown in Co Laois. A middle-aged woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries. She had been driving a minibus which collided with the car the two men were in.
The woman was taken by ambulance to Portlaoise General Hospital, where she was treated for injuries to her leg and ribs.
The men are believed to have been on their way to work at the time. They are understood to have been employed on construction of a school on the Borris Road in Portlaoise.
The scene was sealed off for a number of hours yesterday as forensic collision investigators examined the area.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the crash or have any information relating to the incident to come forward.
Following an appeal to two truck drivers yesterday, one driver made contact with gardaí. The second driver, of a white refrigerated Scania truck, is now also being asked to contact gardaí.
Anyone with information can contact Portlaoise Garda station at 057-8674100, or the Garda confidential line, 1800-666111.
Nearby in Borris-in-Ossory, parish priest Fr Jackie Robinson, who attended the scene of a fatal car crash which claimed the lives of four people on the N7 in Co Laois in 2008, called for action in the wake of the latest incident.
He insisted a deterrent was the only way to prevent further tragedy on the road.
“The amount of people who are speeding through the village is unbelievable. Those who are trying to obey the speed limit are the exception to the rule,” he said.
Fr Robinson claimed the “vast majority” of cars travelling through the village in the morning would break the speed limit.
Meanwhile, a man in his early 20s has died following a two-car collision which occurred on the outskirts of Milltown Malbay, Co Clare, just after 5pm yesterday.
The man, a passenger in one of the vehicles, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the first car and the driver and passenger of the second car were taken to Ennis General Hospital with what are described as non-life threatening injuries.