The deaths of two young men in a single-vehicle road traffic collision in Co Fermanagh is adding to concern at the worsening level of fatalities.
The two, aged 18 and 22, died when the vehicle in which they were travelling crashed on a bend on the Pettigo Road near the village of Kesh in the west of the county.
The incident happened at 4.20pm yesterday.
Their deaths bring to 49 the total of lives lost so far on the roads in Northern Ireland this year.
The rate is already well ahead of that for 2012 and on a par with the 2011 rate. Some 59 people died on the roads by the end of December that year.
Last year, 48 people lost their lives on the roads, the lowest total to date.
SDLP councillor John O’Kane told the BBC: “The driver was 22 years old and from Castlederg, the passenger was 18 from Pettigo.”
“This is particularly tragic, it is every parent’s worst nightmare,” he said, citing the state of the county’s roads as contributing to a number of recent road traffic collisions.
“The condition of our roads is a cause for concern and we will be addressing this issue with the Roads Service when we meet them shortly,” he said.