A Dublin-born Presentation nun and an Indian colleague have been killed in a car accident in central Zambia, writes Paul Cullen.
Sister Simeon Coughlan (53), who was brought up in Feenagh, Co Limerick, died instantly when the car in which she was travelling crashed on Sunday. Sister Anita Pandarappalliyil, from Kerala, India, also died, and a third nun, from Goa, also India, was injured. No other car was involved. The accident occurred as the sisters were travelling from their hospital in Sichili to a meeting in the capital, Lusaka.
Sister Coughlan trained as a nun in Castleconnell, Co Limerick, and then worked for several decades in various parts of England. She is survived by her parents, William and Ellen Coughlan in Feenagh, and a brother, Christy, who lives in the US.
A spokeswoman for the Presentation Sisters in Ireland said the congregation was "shocked and grief-stricken" by the deaths.