Crash kills five schoolgirls
THREE SEPARATE investigations are due to get under way to find out the cause of a crash in the Irish Republic in which five schoolgirls died last Monday. Pupils from four schools were on board when the bus overturned at Casey’s Cross at Kentstown, near Navan in County Meath. Six remain seriously ill. It is thought the bus overturned after two cars collided close to it on Monday afternoon. It has emerged that the bus had not been fitted with seat belts. The girls who died were aged between 13 and 16 years old and were pupils at Loretto Convent School in Navan and nearby Beaufort College. All of them were from Yellow Furze, just outside Navan. Classes at the school have been suspended and psychologists are meeting to discuss what action to take to help pupils and teachers. On Monday night, people gathered in the parish church to pray for the dead and injured. Tom Mulvaney, a pastoral councillor in Yellow Furze, said the community had been devastated by the crash. “My first duty would be to extend our deepest sympathy to the relatives. I know them all personally,” he said.
