Two dead af ter car rams into railings at cemetery
TWO people died and two others were seriously injured when their car ploughed through metal railings and landed in a drainage ditch by a cemetery.
Driver Kieran Lundie, 21, and passenger Gemma McMonagle, 24, were killed instantly when the blue Ford Focus veered out of control on a righthand bend on Balmore Road, on the northern outskirts of Glasgow.
The vehicle struck a wall and railings before careering into a water-filled drainage channel beside Lambhill Cemetery around 12.45am yesterday.
Police and other emergency services were unable to save Mr Lundie or Miss McMonagle, who were pronounced dead at the scene. Three other occupants of the car were taken by ambulance to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where a 25-year-old woman remains in a critical condition.
A 25-year-old man is stable; while a fifth occupant, a 24year-old man, escaped serious injury but was treated for shock.
The tragedy follows a weekend of carnage on Scotland’s roads in which a 34-year-old driver died when his car collided with a crash barrier on the M8 and a pedestrian was knocked down and killed as he crossed a road in Lanarkshire.
Yesterday, family and friends of Miss McMonagle and Mr Lundie, who was known as Nemo, shared their grief on social media after news of the crash broke.
The dead woman’s younger brother, Garry McMonagle, tweeted: ‘Absolute diamond was taken last night, love you with all my heart sis.’
Sophie Thomson posted: ‘I can’t believe this is true. I know you are at peace with your dad.’
Nichola Reid said: ‘RIP beautiful angel, I can’t believe you are gone. You will be missed by everyone.’
Rachael McCallie said: ‘Horrible news, group of young people we know in a crash last night. Rip Nemo, xx.’
David Sharp wrote: ‘Sleep tight Gemma probably one of the nicest people I knew.’
The site of the crash is near a stone-arched entrance to Lambhill Cemetery, which has been prone to flooding in recent years. A £400,000 project to drain floodwater via a channel into the nearby Forth and Clyde Canal was recently completed on the strip of land between the cemetery and Balmore Road.
The car and debris from the crash had been removed by yesterday afternoon and floral tributes were tied to the railings beside the pavement.
A Celtic jersey was also tied to the railings with tributes to the victims written upon it. One message read: ‘Rest in peace bro, gone but not forgotten.’
Sergeant Nicola Taylor at the Road Policing Complex at Helen Street, Govan, said: ‘Our inquiries are continuing into the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident.
‘It would appear that no other vehicle was involved and I would like to speak to anyone who either witnessed this crash or remembers seeing the vehicle travelling in Balmore Road just prior to the crash.’
Police Scotland said a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.
Meanwhile, the driver who died when his Mitsubishi L200 collided with the crash barrier of the M8 near Livingston, West Lothian, at around 1.15am on Saturday was named as Stephen Stewart, 34, of Callander, Stirlingshire.
Paying tribute, Mr Stewart’s grieving family said: ‘Steve was a kind, caring and loving man with a huge heart and was always there for his friends and family when they needed him. He will be sorely missed.’
In Lanarkshire, a 59-year-old man died after being struck by a car as he crossed Glasgow Road in Blantyre at around 12.45am on Saturday.
The victim was taken to Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride but died a short time later.
The 18-year-old driver of the car and his two teenage passengers did not require medical treatment.
Police are continuing to investigate the crash.
‘One of the nicest people I knew’