The office of the Garda Ombudsman is investigating an incident in a Border village yesterday in which a man was killed by a car being pursued by a Garda car.
The alleged hit-and-run happened shortly before 10am just yards inside the Northern side of the Donegal-Derry border. The victim was struck by a car, a Vauxhall Corsa, as he worked at his fruit stall at Coshquin.
He was named locally last night as Tommy Long (46) from the Carnhill area of Derry.
He was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry, where he was later pronounced dead. Both the PSNI and the Garda are investigating the accident.
Gardaí confirmed that one man was arrested shortly after the incident in the Border village of Bridgend. They said they were precluded from commenting further however, as the matter was now with the Garda Ombudsman.
The PSNI, which is investigating the cause of the collision, urged witnesses to contact it. Officials from the Garda Ombudsman's office travelled to Bridgend yesterday afternoon at the request of the Garda Commissioner to conduct an investigation into the incident.
A large stretch of the Buncrana to Derry road, on both sides of the Border, remained closed as diversions created long tailbacks late into the evening.
In a separate road crash, a 16-year-old girl was killed when the car she was travelling in was involved in a head-on collision in Dungarvan.
Named locally as Stephanie Doyle, from the Dungarvan area, she was a front seat passenger in the car when it collided with a pillar on a stretch of road at Ballinamuck at about 8pm on Wednesday evening. There were no other vehicles involved.
Emergency services arrived at the scene but the girl was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the car escaped with minor injuries.
Locals said yesterday the location where the crash happened was a notorious blackspot and had been the site of many such incidents over the years.Gardaí in Dungarvan are appealing for anyone with information to contact them on 058.48600.
Some 84 incidents have been referred by the Garda Commissioner for investigation by the Garda Ombudsman since the latter's office began operating two months ago.
Under the legislation, the ombudsman's involvement is triggered automatically where actions of gardaí may have resulted in death or serious harm. In the first month of operation the ombudsman received almost 400 complaints from the public.