Two killed, six injured as vans collide in crash near Killorglin

Yesterday was another bad day on the State's roads as two men died and seven were injured in Co Kerry and Co Waterford.

Meanwhile the conditions of the two men and a boy who were injured in Thursday's road accident near Cahir, Co Tipperary remain unchanged.

The six-year-old child, Con Downes, was described as being in a critical but stable condition in Cork University Hospital.

His brother, mother, aunt and grandmother died in the accident involving four trucks, a van and a car.

One of the lorry drivers is still in a critical condition, while the other was expected to be discharged from hospital in Cashel last night.

Gardaí said last night that a second man had died after two vans collided near Killorglin, Co Kerry early yesterday morning. The accident occurred at 7.30 a.m at Lonhort in what gardaí described as a head-on collision.Timothy O'Shea, in his 60s, from Ballycleave,Glenbeigh Co Kerry, died at the scene. The second man, aged 37, also from the locality, had not been officially named last night. He died at Tralee General Hospital

Six other people were injured in the accident and were taken to the hospital where their conditions were described as not life-threatening.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Waterford Regional Hospital said a man was in a stable condition after a road traffic accident in Co Waterford yesterday morning.

The number of people killed represents a bad start to the year, with 23 people losing their lives in the first 23 days of the year, compared to 22 for the whole month in 2003.