A mother and daughter who died following a road crash near Carndonagh, Co Donegal on Wednesday evening have been named locally.
Six-year-old Ella McLaughlin was fatally injured when the car in which she was a rear seat passenger collided with a van on the R240 road at Glentogher at around 6.30pm.
Her mother, Natalie McLaughlin, a nurse in her 20s who was driving the car, was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry and later transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. However, she died from her injuries on Thursday afternoon.
Two other people remained in hospital on Thursday evening following the crash. All four people who were in the car are understood to be members of the same family unit.
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“A female child, who was a rear passenger, is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Royal Victoria Hospital,” An Garda Síochána said in a statement.
“A male front seat passenger (30s) is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry.”
Cllr Martin McDermott, Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council’s Inishowen Municipal District, said he knew the family and that the loss of the mother and daughter was “just devastating”.
“The loss of anybody on our roads is difficult for any community to take,” the Fianna Fáil politician said. “But the loss of a mother and daughter, particularly given the fact that they are so young, is even more poignant and more difficult to accept.”
Mr McDermott said people from the area were “just numb” after learning of the two death and “there is very little I can add to that other than to keep them all in our thoughts and prayers”.
The deaths of the mother and daughter brought the number of fatalities on Co Donegal’s roads so far this year to 10.
Fr Con McLaughlin, parish priest in Carndonagh, said he went to Altnagelvin Hospital to be with those injured in the crash and would never forget the sadness in the emergency department.
“You had doctors and nurses running around trying to do their best to help these poor helpless people,” he said. “It is something I will never, ever forget.
“I just wanted to be a presence there for the family and I did not speak too much but I just wanted them to know that we are all there for them.”
Fr McLaughlin said the people of Inishowen were sadly used to tragedies happening on the peninsula’s roads.
“We can visualise how they must feel at this time and how the wider community feels,” he said.
Donegal councillor Joy Beard said the “entire community is just numb and once again just lost for words”.
“Inishowen has known more than its fair share of tragedy on its roads over the years and it has happened again.”
The R240 was closed for a period on Thursday while a technical examination of the crash scene was carried out but reopened later in the day.
The head of the Garda Traffic Corps in Donegal, Insp Seán McDaid, appealed for witnesses, particularly any road users who may have relevant camera footage, to contact Buncrana Garda station on 074 932 0540, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any garda station.
