A successful Irish actress and singer was tragically killed and another Irishman seriously hurt in car crash in India yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed.
Beverley O'Sullivan (28) from Donaghmede in Dublin was killed when the car in which she was a passenger crashed on the road between Agra and Jaipur in the Bharatpur area of north west India.
She was travelling with her boyfriend Stephen Reeves (32), who remains in a serious condition in RBM Bharatpur General Hospital following the crash.
The couple are understood to have left Ireland on Sunday for a holiday and to have hired a car and driver for the first part of their trip. The condition of the driver was not known.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Irish embassy in New Delhi was providing consular assistance to both families.
Ms O’Sullivan was a member of Irish pop group Fifth Avenue, which toured with boy band Westlife three years running.
Westlife singer Markus Feehily paid tribute to her on his Twitter page: “I am so sad to hear the news of Beverley O'Sullivan's death. I sung alongside her at my cousin's wedding this summer. She was gorgeous and talented."
His fellow band member, Nicky Byrne, added: "My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends. I am in shock."
Ms O'Sullivan admitted in a recent article in the Guardiannewspaper that she had already lost 45 per cent of her hearing in one ear and 30 per cent in the other when she was in Fifth Avenue. In spite of this, she persevered with her singing career at private functions after the band had split up.
"Beverley sang at my wedding on September 4th, 2009, and I have to say that she is an amazing singer," reads one testimonial on her website. "She sang any song I wanted and a lot of my guests thought it was a CD she was that good!"
She will posthumously make her film debut in Happy Ever Afters, due to be released on December 25th. In it, she plays a cabaret singer and features on six soundtrack songs.
“She was a pleasure to work with,” said Lesley McKimm from production company Newrange Pictures.
“Everybody was terribly shocked. It’s awful when somebody dies so young.”