GARDAÍ IN Co Clare are investigating a road crash in which it is believed a boyfriend and girlfriend collided head-on.
Emergency crews were called to a crash on the R474, close to Kilmaley, about 12km from Ennis, at around 4.15am on Saturday.
Fire crews and medics discovered two cars had crashed head-on and that the female driver of one of them was trapped.
A man discovered nearby was initially thought to have been in the car with the woman. It was thought the occupants of the second car had absconded.
Locals who rushed to the scene said they thought there were other persons around. One said he believed the injured man had actually been driving the second car.
The 23-year-old woman had to be cut from the wreckage and was rushed to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick with neck, back and facial injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Her boyfriend was hospitalised with less serious injuries.
One emergency worker said: “This was a very strange one. We thought the man and woman were in the same car and that the driver of the other car had run off. It looked to us like they were boyfriend and girlfriend but we didn’t realise at the time they were both driving the cars.
“The two cars were extensively damaged but the man was able to escape from his.”
The road remained closed for more than two hours while both cars were removed for technical examination.