Gardaí investigating the death of two American tourists in a road traffic incident in Co Cork are examining whether they may have been using a sat-nav device which directed them to cross a busy road to get to Blarney.
James Baker (62) from Columbia City, Indiana and Peggy Sue Adams (59) from Delphos, Ohio were killed when their hire-car was in a collision with a truck at the Waterloo Junction on the main N20 near Blarney.
The two arrived in Cork on a holiday last Friday with their spouses, Jack Adams and Deborah Baker, who were rushed to Cork University Hospital (CUH) where they are still being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
The four were travelling from Mallow towards Cork and were turning right across the lane of traffic coming from Cork to descend the Kiln Hill towards Waterloo to head for Blarney when the collision occurred.
So far, Garda inquiries have revealed that another collision happened in the same place when the driver was directed to cross the outbound lane from Cork and turn down for Waterloo as the shortest route to get to Blarney.
The driver of the truck, a man in his 30s was also taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital following the collision which happened at around 11am on Monday but he was later discharged following treatment for shock.
A second car, which was waiting to exit on to the dual carriageway, was struck in the aftermath of the crash. Its female driver was uninjured. The woman, who is pregnant, was taken to CUH as a precautionary measure.
The American couples had visited the Cliffs of Moher before they headed to Cork. They had been due to return to the US on Friday. Prayers were offered for them at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Blarney on Tuesday.
Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact Gurranabraher Garda station on (021) 4946200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800-666-111 or any Garda station.
Meanwhile post-mortems on a Mayo grandmother, her daughter and her grand-son killed in a crash near Claremorris on Monday have been completed in advance of a triple funeral on Friday.
A small group of grieving relatives and friends stood by at the hospital morgue as the coffins containing the remains of Marcella Wilson, her mother Mary Ann, who was in her seventies, and her seven year old son, Sean, were removed to waiting hearses.
Marcella Wilson, the driver of the Citroen C 3 car which was in collision with an articulated lorry on the N17 near Claremorris, had three other children, Amy (16), Kelly (14) and Anthony (8).
Describing the Wilsons as “highly respected and well liked”, Fr Kevin Hegarty said: “It is absolute devastation for them. They are absolutely suffering just now. We do want them to know we deeply care.
Reflecting on the mood in Erris on Monday before news of the tragedy broke, Fr Hegarty said: “Early in the day, all the talk was of Sunday’s All-Ireland final. We live in a (Gaelic) football-obsessed county. But now there is numbness.”
