A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy was killed in a car crash yesterday as he was being driven to school near Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim.
Simon Land was being brought by his mother to St Clare’s primary school at 9.15am when their car collided with a quarry-going lorry on the N16 at Donaghbeg.
The child’s mother, Sarah Land, in her 40s, from Castlemoyle, Manorhamilton, was taken with injuries to Sligo General Hospital.
The boy was killed instantly as the car careered into a ditch. The lorry driver, in his 30s, was not seriously injured.
One of the first at the scene was parish priest Fr Oliver Kelly. “It was a terrible scene,” he said. “The community is devastated.”
School principal John Conlon said Simon was a member of a small family. He had only one older brother, now in his 20s, a past pupil of the school.
Mr Conlon added: “Simon was in third class. He was an absolutely lovely, kind lad who got on well with everybody in school.”
The road was closed for several hours for a Garda forensic examination. Local Sinn Féin councillor Michael Colreavy said: “The local community would have known the family well. The little lad would have had so many school friends. It is impossible to feel the pain his family are feeling.”
A spokesperson for Sligo General Hospital said Ms Land’s condition was “stable”.