Boy (12) killed on his way back from local shop
Gardai and emergency service personnel examine a lorry after a 12-year-old boy was struck and killed in Main Street, Mountrath, Co Laois yesterday. The boy was on his way home from a sweet shop when the tragedy happened
A 12-YEAR-OLD boy has died after being struck by an articulated truck on a busy main street.
The boy, who has been named locally as Shane Murtagh, was hit by the truck as he attempted to cross the main street in Mountrath, Co Laois, shortly after 2.30pm yesterday.
It is believed the boy had just left a sweet shop and was about to make his way home with a friend on their bikes when the accident occurred.
Shocked locals said that the boy's family, who are originally from Portlaoise, had only moved into the town in the last two months.
They are believed to be renovating a house in the Woodbrook area of the town.
The boy's death was the third fatality on Irish roads in a 24-hour period and brings the total number of road deaths to 171 this year.
Gardai have launched an investigation into the boy's death, which occurred outside the Bank of Ireland on Main St, Mountrath.
His body was taken to Portlaoise Hospital and the driver of the truck was also treated for shock.
Crash
There were major traffic delays following the crash as the road, which is the main N7 Dublin to Limerick road, was closed off for over an hour while forensics examined the scene.
His death came a day after a teenage cyclist died in a road accident in Wexford and a woman (41) was killed in a car crash in Galway. The victim (19) was knocked off his bicycle by a car on Tuesday night. Greg Kavanagh, from Ramsfort Park, Gorey, had been cycling at Courtown Harbour in Gorey when he was hit by the car around 10.30pm as he made his way home from a part-time job.
The driver and passenger of the car were not injured.
Emergency services were immediately called but the teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.
The woman in Galway died in a crash in Gortnaglogh, Kilconnell, near Ballinasloe, the same night. It is understood that she lost control of her vehicle and crashed. There were no other vehicles involved in the collision, which happened at 7pm.
Her body was taken to Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, for a post mortem examination.
- Dara deFaoite and Anne-Marie Walsh
