Four teenagers have died following an early-morning car crash in Co Kerry.
They were killed following an incident on the N72 between Killarney and Mallow at 7.10am after the car they were travelling in hit a tree.
The driver (17), his brother (15), both from Ballyspillane, Killarney, and a 15-year-old girl were all pronounced dead at the scene in Barraduff, Co Kerry.
Two other males who were seriously injured were taken to Kerry General Hospital, Tralee, where one later died.
The road was closed as crash examiners attended the scene about a mile from the Lissivigeen roundabout on the Cork side of Killarney. Diversions were in place. Four ambulances earlier attended the scene.
A priest called to the scene said several communities had been deadened by the loss of life.
Father Kevin McNamara, who knew some of the teenagers, said emergency crews were working amid utter devastation.
Up to 15 firefighters were on a steep ditch trying to cut the teenagers from the mangled wreckage.
The driver and a front seat passenger had been cut out of the wreckage by the time the priest arrived.
“The fire brigade were working unbelievably in just getting the three others out from the back seat,” he said.
“We were waiting, just waiting for them to come out - then the devastation, the tracksuits, young clothes and young people and the first one (of the brothers) came out and was pronounced dead.”
The priest was called to the crash scene at 7.30am.
Michael Flynn, assistant chief fire officer in Co Kerry, said: “It’s a job that needs to be done at the time. It’s our job to free the people and give them over to the medical service. We just have to try and stay focused.”
Mr Flynn said the car crashed and hit a ditch and an oak tree. The driver’s side took all the impact, the fire chief said.
“The car was wedged between the road, the field and the tree down a 10-foot drop.”
Relatives of the dead arrived hours later and left flowers at the roadside.
“The only thing we can do is stand shoulder-to-shoulder with people at the moment,” Fr McNamara said.
He said there was darkness and sadness around, and "real pain at the loss that is being felt".
South Kerry TD John O’Donoghue said his prayers were with the victims and their families.
“It was a terrible accident that will be deeply felt throughout the local community. It is particularly tragic that these young lives have been lost when they had such bright futures ahead of them," he said.
Kerry county councillor Brendan Cronin said: “It’s devastation, absolute horror and devastation. My heart goes out to those families. It’s a sad day for those young people."
Road safety chiefs also offered their sympathies to their families of the three dead teenagers.
The four deaths this morning take the number of people killed on Irish roads so far this year to 137. Figures show nine people have died on the roads across the county of Kerry over the last eight months.
Part of the N72 near where today’s accident happened is on the Garda official list of collision-prone zones after four people were killed and nine seriously injured in series of separate crashes over the last number of years.
Today’s crash happened just a month after eight men were killed in one of the worst road accidents in the history of the State.
Seven of the dead, from three parishes across Inishowen, were in a car which collided with another vehicle on a notorious stretch of road, near Buncrana in Co Donegal, before ploughing into a third.
The driver of the third car, a man in his 60s returning home after an evening at bingo, was also killed.
Anyone who may have witnessed the crash or have any information is asked to contact Killarney Garda station on 064-6671160, the Garda Confidential Line 1-800-666111.
Additional reporting PA
