Five people have been killed in a two-car collision on the outskirts of Newry, Co Down.
In the incident, which happened at about 1.30 a.m. on the Dublin road, an Audi and a Ford Mondeo crashed head-on.
The female driver and two female passengers in the Ford were killed, while the male driver and woman passenger in the other car also died.
Three of the dead are believed to be from the Banbridge area, while two are thought to be from the Rathfriland area.
Three fire crews from Newry were called to the stretch ofroad between Drumalane Road and the junction with Forkhill Road.
Later, a fireman involved in an operation to free the bodies was struck by a hit-and-run driver. He needed hospital treatment for leg injuries but was released.
Police had set up checkpoints on both ends of the road, but a driver in a red Audi who was signalled to stop failed to do so and struck the firefighter, carrying him on the bonnet of his car for almost 30 yards.
The car was later found a short distance away at Drumliska Gardens.
Police have appealed for witnesses to the crash to contact them.
The latest deaths come after a weekend in which seven people died on Irish roads - five in the Republic and two in Fermanagh.