A Carlow community has woken up in shock this morning, following a tragic road crash that has claimed the lives of several young people.
Gardaí have confirmed that the single vehicle crash occurred at around 11:30pm last night (Wednesday, January 31) on the N80 at Leagh on the Wexford Road in County Carlow.
The driver of the car and two of its passengers, believed to be two men and a woman, were sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
Another passenger in the car, a man in his 20s, was later taken to St Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny with serious but non-life threatening injuries.
Local diversions in the area are currently still in place as Garda Forensic Collision Investigators continue their examination of the scene.
Carlow Superintendent Anthony Farrell has since stated that the identities of the deceased have not yet been released to the public.
"We have been in contact with a number of families this morning and we have an idea of who it was in the car but they haven't been formally identified yet,” he stated to the Irish Independent.
"Until we have the formal identification done we can't say anything definite about names but they were local young people in the age of between 19, 20 and 21,” he continued.
Many local residents have been expressing their shock after the fatalities, including Fianna Fail councillor Andrea Dalton.
"We are all devastated by the news. Three lives have been devastated and three families have been devastated and three communities and someone's life has been irrevocably changed now with serious injuries,” she noted.
"All we can do as a community is stand with them and support them. It's just tragic,” she added.
Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling on the N80 at Leagh between 11:15pm and midnight are being asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.
Anyone with any information is being urged to contact Carlow Garda station on 059 913 6620, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
