Eight killed in Irish road crash

The accident took place at around 10.40pm on Sunday night, on the Buncrana to Clonmany road, near Buncrana in Co Donegal. The two cars involved are a black Volkswagen Passat and a red Toyota Corolla.

The eight men in the Passat, in their late teens or early twenties, all perished in the accident except for the driver who is being treated in Letterkenny General Hospital for serious injuries. The driver of the Corolla, a man in his 60s, was killed in the accident.

The deceased were all believed to be from the Inishowen area, including Dunaff, Clonmany, Ballyliffin and Buncrana. The area has witnessed a number of multiple road accident deaths.

Police said road traffic officers were investigating reports that the Passat had been involved in a separate accident minutes before it collided with the Corolla.

Ireland is currently seventh out of 27 European Union states for road deaths per million population. The country’s road safety record has improved significantly in the last few years.

Five local people were killed in a crash involving a drunk driver in 2005 and five Eastern Europeans died in a two-car crash in 2006.