Irish Independent

Trailer comes loose and ploughs into mother and son on path

- Robin Schiller

A MOTHER and son are being treated in hospital for serious injuries after a trailer ploughed into them as they walked beside a busy roadway.

The road traffic collision, which has been described as a “freak accident”, occurred on the Avenue Road, in Dundalk, Co Louth, shortly before 9am yesterday.

The injured were last night named locally as Dolores Kearns (46) and Aaron McKeown (16). They were being treated for serious injuries in two separate hospitals.

Gardaí believe a trailer, which was being transporte­d by a 4X4, dislodged before striking into the woman and teenager. An eye-witness told the Irish

Independen­t how Aaron was struck directly by the loose trailer, while Ms Kearns was hit by a telephone pole following the collision.

“They were walking along the footpath, the young lad was trailing a bit behind. All of a sudden this Jeep with a trailer and something else on top drove by, but the trailer seemed to come off.

“The trailer then ploughed into the teenage boy and the telephone pole, which then hit the woman,” the eye witness said.

“It was chaotic, a number of people ran over straight away to help them. One woman jumped out of her car and was doing what she could to help,” they told the Irish Independen­t.

Ms Kearns was airlifted from the nearby Dundalk Gaels GAA grounds to St James’s Hospital in the capital due to the severity of her injuries, while her son was being treated at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Co Louth.

They are understood to have suffered a number of injuries including broken bones and cuts, but their conditions have been described as non-life threatenin­g.

A large number of emergency service vehicles responded to the scene after receiving reports of the collision.

Three ambulances and two fire tenders from Dundalk Fire Station attended, while an army helicopter was used to airlift Ms Kearns to hospital.

The scene on Avenue Road was sealed off by gardaí and diversions were in place.

A technical examinatio­n of the scene was carried out yesterday.

A truck’s flat bed, which was being carried on a trailer, remained at the scene. It is understood the trailer was being towed by a four-wheel drive.

A Garda spokeswoma­n said: “Gardaí are investigat­ing a collision involving a lorry and two pedestrian­s on Avenue Road, Dundalk.

“The collision occurred at approximat­ely 8.50am.

“A 16-year-old boy was taken to Our Lady Of Lourdes Hospital. A woman in her 40s was brought to St James’s Hospital in Dublin.

“They are both being treated for serious injuries.”

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 ?? Photo: Tony Gavin ?? The trailer which hit a mother and her teenager son as they walked on the footpath on Avenue Road, Dundalk, Co Louth, yesterday.
Photo: Tony Gavin The trailer which hit a mother and her teenager son as they walked on the footpath on Avenue Road, Dundalk, Co Louth, yesterday.

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