Women killed after getting off bus died instantly, inquest told

The inquest into the deaths of two women who were hit struck by a car while crossing a road in Co Louth earlier this year has heard they died instantly.

Drogheda Coroner's Court was told that Josephine Duff (78) of Kells Road, Ardee, and Kathy McDonald (70), of Drogheda Road, Ardee, were first cousins and great friends. They had got off a bus on the northbound side of the N2, on January 16th, and were struck on the southbound side, outside the Hunterstown Inn, south of Ardee, at about 6.15pm. A GP pronounced both women dead at the scene.

The inquest heard that Josie Duff had been accompanying McDonald to a hospital appointment. Dr Jane Thorne, who performed the postmortems, said they died instantly, Duff from a ruptured aorta and McDonald from head injuries. She told the coroner, Ronan Maguire, that neither woman would have felt anything.

Mr Maguire said he was adjourning the inquest at the request of the Garda Síochána, which is preparing a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions.