'Number of fatalities', at least four injured in M9 crash

At least four people were injured and five teenagers died in a head-on collision on the M9 motorway in Co Kildare. The crash occurred around 3am this morning at Moone, when a vehicle traveling southbound on the northbound carriageway struck another car. All five teenage men who were in the first car were killed and were taken to Naas General Hospital for post-mortem examinations.

Three women in the second car, aged between their 20s and 30s, suffered serious injuries and were treated at hospitals in Crumlin and Naas. A child passenger in the second car is also being treated for serious injuries at Children's Health Ireland in Crumlin. Gardaí say the family involved may have been on their way to Dublin Airport.

Family Liaison Officers have been appointed to the relatives of both car occupants, and an independent investigation by Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, is ongoing. Both cars involved in the collision have been removed for forensic examination. Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly expressed his thoughts with those injured, noting that they were innocent family members struck by a vehicle driving the wrong way.

Minister of State with Responsibility for Road Safety, Sean Canney, also expressed his condolences and highlighted the challenging work of An Garda Síochána in such incidents. Sinn Féin TD for Kildare South, Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh, and local councillor Ivan Keatley paid tribute to the victims and their families, while parish priest Father Seamus McEntee of Athy, Narraghmore, and Moone extended his sympathies to all affected.