Gardaí were last night searching for an oil tanker which left a 55km (34 miles) trail of diesel fuel across south Tipperary and Kilkenny. The spill resulted in a spate of accidents including one where seven people had to be brought to hospital.
The tanker began leaking diesel on the N24 between Tipperary town and Cahir at around 8am yesterday just after it passed through the village of Bansha. It continued to leak its contents all the way to Cahir.
Gardaí in Cahir received a call alerting them to the spillage at around 8.10am, but just a couple of minutes later three cars skidded on the spillage and crashed into each other some three miles from Cahir.
Gardaí immediately alerted the emergency services. Three fire tenders from Cahir and three from Tipperary town attended the scene with firefighters using cutting equipment to remove the roof from one of the cars and free the occupants.
Some seven people - including a family from Wexford who were travelling in a two-car convoy to Shannon airport to go abroad on holiday - were taken to Our Lady's Hospital in Cashel for treatment.
Four of those were later discharged after treatment, but three others who suffered fractures and lacerations were expected to be detained overnight.
All were described as stable by a Health Service Executive eastern region spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the offending truck driver had continued on his way, leaving a trail of diesel through Cahir town and down to Clonmel where significant amounts spilled as he went through a number of roundabouts.
These spillages caused a further three car accidents, with one person having to be taken to Our Lady's Hospital in Cashel for treatment.
The tanker driver then continued to Co Kilkenny and was spotted parked in a layby near Grangemockler by a passing motorist who alerted Gardaí. However, when they arrived they found that the trail of diesel continued to Callan where it disappeared on the bypass.
A Garda spokesman in Kilkenny confirmed that they were still looking for the tanker and that it had either English or Northern Ireland registration plates, but didn't appear to be carrying any other markings.
"We're still looking for it - we're not sure whether the driver realised that he was leaking diesel at Callan and fixed the leaking valve, or whether it had simply all leaked out at that stage - either way, the trail just dried up at Callan," he said.
They have appealed to anyone who may have seen the tanker travelling from Tipperary town through Cahir and Clonmel on to Callan and beyond yesterday morning to contact them at Cahir, Clonmel, Kilkenny or any Garda station.
The diesel spillage on the N24 led to the closure of the road for over an hour between Bansha and Cahir, while gardaí also had to put diversions in place for a period on the Clonmel bypass.