A MOTORIST and one of his passengers were killed instantly when the car in which they were travelling collided head on with an oncoming car while overtaking another vehicle during a weekend trip to Cork for a Halloween party.
Estonian nationals Sten Laanisto (20) and Lauri Lind (27) were both killed, while three of their friends, Boris Petersen, Silver Haanikainen and Kadi Viljamae suffered serious injuries in the collision, which happened at Carr’s Hill on the Carrigaline road on October 31st, 2010.
Off-duty garda Tim O’Leary told an inquest into the deaths he was driving his Renault Laguna to work in Carrigaline at about 6.20am on the morning in question when he passed a silver BMW parked on the hard shoulder near Carr’s Hill.
Garda O’Leary said the silver BMW pulled out from the hard shoulder just after he passed it and he noticed its headlights in his rear-view mirror, but they then disappeared from view behind him and he noticed the headlights of a car coming against him.
He looked to the side and saw the headlights of the BMW beside him passing him out on the incorrect side of the road and the next thing he heard was a loud bang to his right before his car veered to the left and hit a signpost and a ditch before coming to a halt.
He got out of his car and dialled 999 before going to the assistance of the other motorists and he noticed a woman passenger from the BMW in a distressed state on the road while the driver and the three back-seat passengers were all motionless in the car.
The driver of the other car, Stephen Foley, who suffered a broken leg and chest injuries, said it appeared to him that the BMW had not given itself enough time to get back onto its own side of the road.
Survivor Mr Petersen told the inquest he could not remember anything about the crash as he suffered serious injuries and was still out of work as a result.
The car was registered to Mr Haanikainen and all five occupants had travelled to Cork for a Halloween party and had stayed at the Rochestown Park Hotel, but left of their own accord at about 6am after management had received a number of complaints about noise levels.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said the driver, Mr Laanisto, had a blood alcohol level of 215mg per 100ml – almost three times the legal limit.
She said Mr Laanisto died instantly from haemorrhage and shock due to a laceration to the heart and aorta following multiple injuries, while Mr Lind died instantly from shock and haemorrhage due to a transection of the aorta, with both sets of injuries due to a road collision. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death in both cases.
