The deaths of two young men who died in a road accident while being pursued by police were yesterday being investigated by Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan.
The men died when they were in collision with another vehicle outside Castledawson, Co Derry.
Their car careered off the road and ended up at the bottom of an embankment beside the Hillhead Road last night.
The PSNI confirmed that they had been following a white Honda Civic the men were in when it collided with a 4x4. The occupants of the 4x4, a man and a woman, were taken to hospital after being cut free by the fire and rescue service.
Three people in three other vehicles involved in the incident were treated at the scene for shock and minor injuries.
Because of the PSNI involvement in the incident the crash was automatically reported to the ombudsman for investigation.
A spokesman for Ms O'Loan said they had begun an investigation that would be "full and thorough". He said they could not comment on whether the car had been travelling at high speed when it crashed.
Cookstown Fire and Rescue Service district commander, Paul McCloskey, said his officers found the dead men in the vehicle at the bottom of the embankment.
"A man and woman in their mid-30s in another car on the main road were trapped and we had to work on freeing them and they were taken to hospital.
"A car full of doctors had been passing and had already established that the two men in the other car were dead.
"The people in the remaining three cars were treated at the scene for shock and minor injuries." Meanwhile, the deaths of two other people in separate St Patrick's Day road accidents were being investigated by the PSNI. A man was arrested after the body of a man was found lying at the side of a road in Co Fermanagh. A passing motorist discovered the body at Lack at about 4.45am and raised the alarm.
Outside Claudy, Co Derry, a 17-year-old girl died when the car in which she was a passenger struck a tree early yesterday.