First funerals of Latvian crash victims today

The first funerals of the victims of last week's car crash that killed five eastern Europeans in Co Donegal is due to take place…

The first funerals of the victims of last week's car crash that killed five eastern Europeans in Co Donegal is due to take place today in a small village west of the Latvian capital of Riga.

Mother and daughter Aija Porcika (38), who was working in an electrical store near Buncrana, and Ginta Veits (19), a student who had been visiting her mother, were on their way back from Dublin airport when the two-car collision occurred.

They will be buried close to the village of Kapsedes, more than 200km away from Riga.

The Irish Ambassador to Latvia, Tim Mawe, is due to attend the funeral. The Health Service Executive paid for the cost of repatriating the remains of Ms Porcika and Ms Veits, as well as the other victims, in what a spokeswoman described as a "compassionate gesture".

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The funeral of the driver of the second car, Danielitis Abartis (23), who is believed to have been responsible for the crash, is due to take place close to Kapsedes tomorrow. His remains were returned to Latvia on Sunday.

Mr Abartis was spotted by gardaí driving an Audi saloon at high speed from Buncrana just minutes before the two-car collision occurred.

The mayor of the municipality where Mr Abartis's parents live, Ruta Balode, said the family was "devastated" by the circumstances surrounding his death.

While family members declined to comment when contacted, Ms Balode said: "The pain they are experiencing isn't possible to express. The love and tenderness they have for their son is extraordinary."

Ms Balode said the 23-year-old, who she taught as a child, had been earning money to buy a house in Liepaja, a city near Kapsedes, with his girlfriend and had planned to start a family when he returned from Donegal.