This article is from page 65 of the 2008-06-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 65 JPG
THREE of the five people injured in a road traffic collision near Ennis on Sunday evening have been trans- ferred to Limerick for further treat- ment while two others were expected to be discharged from hospital last night (Monday).
The two car crash occurred at Bal- lyline shortly after 6pm and left the N18 Ennis/Galway road closed for three hours. The closure also result- ed in traffic tailbacks stretching over three kilometres in each direction.
Gardai are investigating the pos- sibility that the driver of one vehi- cle was driving under the influence of alcohol. It 1s understood that the man was asked in hospital by gardai to provide a blood or urine sample which has been sent away for analy- SIS.
In an uncanny twist of fate, the crash happened just seconds after a
fleet of emergency vehicles passed the exact location on their way to an- other accident near Lough Cutra on the Clare/Galway border. That origi- nal crash was not a serious incident and the emergency services were not required there in the end.
When fire crews were alerted to the second crash, a third fire appliance was scrambled from Ennis along with another from Shannon Town. The fire tenders sent to the original incident also returned and attended the crash at Ballyline.
The two Peugeot cars, which were travelling in opposite directions, crashed at the entrance to the GAA pitch. Passing motorists and locals used a fire extinguisher and water on one of the cars after they saw what they believed to be smoke. It is un- derstood however the there was no fire and that powder from activated airbags gave the impression that one of the cars was smoking.
Four men and a woman were in- jured in the collision three of whom were able to get out of one vehicle themselves. They were treated at the scene by fire brigade first responders until four ambulances arrived at the incident. The occupants of the sec- ond car however had to be cut from
the vehicle by fire crews using spe- cialist cutting equipment.
Two of the injured were a husband and wife from County Galway, who had been travelling home from the currach races in Kilrush.
While none of the injuries are said to be life threatening, as part of a
new trauma bypass protocol, three of the patients have since been trans- ferred to Limerick for further treat- ment. The remaining two patients were due to be released from hospital ETS mp epeaele
A fire brigade spokesperson con- firmed, “Fire crews from Ennis were sent to an incident at Lough Cutra when a call was received about a second collision. One of those crews was sent back to the second incident while appliances were also sent from Ennis and Shannon to assist. Fire brigade first responders also assisted in treating some of the injured at the scene.”
Gardai in Ennis are investigating the incident and have asked for wit- nesses to contact Ennis station on 065 6848100.