Gardai are appealing for witnesses to an accident in which a six-week-old baby boy was killed by a dumper truck which overturned on to a car in Co Dublin yesterday.
The child, who has not been named, died when the truck, involved in roadworks on Avondale Road, Killiney, close to the roundabout at The Graduate pub, tipped sideways from the footpath into approaching traffic at about 11.25 a.m.
His mother, who was driving, was unhurt.
Road-widening and improvement works have been continuing at the roundabout for several months. Workers for the main contractor, Clonmel Enterprises Ltd, tried immediately to lift the truck, owned by a sub-contractor, off the car with the help of a digger. A crane was then used to remove the truck.
The mother of the child was taken by ambulance to Loughlinstown Hospital, where gardai said she was in a "distraught" state. Avondale Road was closed off until 2 p.m., when a recovery vehicle arrived to remove the four-axle tipper to Garda Headquarters at Parkgate Street. There will be a full examination of the mechanics and hydraulics of the truck.
The truck had been parked side-on to traffic on a "slight incline" when it began tipping its estimated 20-tonne load into a hole in the footpath, according to gardai. It appeared to have been a freak incident, said one garda.
Officers at the scene indicated they believed the truck to be well within its maximum load limit. The accident will be investigated, however, and gardai will interview the driver of the truck. He was said to be very shocked yesterday. A spokesman for the sub-contractor who owned the truck did not wish to comment.
Insp Noel Clarke appealed for any witnesses to the accident to call Dun Laoghaire Garda station at 01-6665000.