Two road accident girls remain in critical conditon
Gardaí were tonight continuing to investigate an horrific car crash in Edgeworthstown, Co Longford which claimed the lives of two young schoolgirls aged six and nine, and left two in critical conditon in hospital.
"The nine-year-old girl was pronounced dead, by a doctor, at the scene and the six-year-old died later in hospital," said a spokesman.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) said one of the children remains in a critical condition in Midland Regional Hospital, while the second was transferred to Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, early this morning.
Their mothers were front seat passengers. One of the women is originally from the area.
One is in a comfortable condition and the second, who has been discharged, is helping gardaí with their enquiries after voluntarily going to Mullingar Garda Station.
Post mortem examinations are being carried out on the bodies of the dead girls.
It is understood they are not related and are from outside the area, but one of their mothers is originally from the Longford area.
All four youngsters were back seat passengers in the BMW which hit an embankment in a quiet cul de sac on the old Longford Road on the edge of Edgeworthstown.
Nine-year-old Michella Logan, from Kilkock, Kildare, died when she was thrown from the vehicle.
Little Ava Carberry, aged six, from Oranmore, Galway, lost her fight for life later in hospital.
Investigators have been trying to piece together how the BMW 116 crashed into the clay mound in Camlisk, Edgeworthstown, last night.
"At the moment forensic investigators are examining the scene and a full and thorough investigation of all the circumstances involved of this accident will be conducted," said Superintendent John Gantley.
"No stone will be left unturned to find out what happened or what occurred here last night."
Chief fire officer Declan Kilcline said it was an horrific accident which has shocked the whole locality.
"It was very traumatic," he said. "It was horrific and the locality is in shock. Not just the firefighters, but the whole locality. It's really terrible."
Mr Kilcline said the part-time retainer crew from Edgeworthstown were at the scene within four minutes of the call-out at 9.28pm and began working on the occupants straight away.
"All accidents are traumatic but when they arrived at the scene the two children were critically ill and some of the firemen knew the people involved which made it even more traumatic.
"I believe one of the mothers is originally from Longford.
"They had to prioritise whose injuries were worse and started working on the children straight away.
"They worked very intensely on them and some of the firemen went in the ambulance to Mullingar to assist any way they could.
"Obviously we wish to offer our condolences to the families involved in this tragic event, especially coming up to the holiday period.
"It will have ramifications for a while in the area."
The fire officer said he believed all of the occupants had been wearing seatbelts, but confirmed the nine-year-old girl had been thrown from the car.
She was pronounced dead at the scene by local GP Dr Padraig McGarry.
The embankment, which was lit, was constructed to block off the old N4 at the end of a cul-de-sac created to serve the local C&D pet food plant and a number of houses.
"The weather conditions were misty and the road would have been wet at the time," added Mr Kilcline.
"There could have been localised patches of fog in the area, but there wasn't at the time of our arrival.
"The stretch of road was the national primary route, but a bypass for the town opened about a year and a half ago and it became a cul de sac for local residents to get into their houses."
