Gardai were last night trying to piece together information on an accident in Co Laois which claimed the lives of three women and left a young man in a critical condition in hospital.
The accident occurred just before noon in bright, sunny weather as the three women were out for a walk on the N78, the main Athy to Castlecomer road, at Farnans, near Ballylinan.
The women, one of whom had moved to the area from England recently, were struck by a car close to a bend on a stretch of road which has been described by local people as "lethal".
Gardai believe that the car, a Nissan Almera, struck the women - a mother, her daughter and her sister-in-law - as it travelled towards Athy.
The accident, which left two young families without their mothers and claimed the wives of two brothers on the same day, was described as "most horrific" by Garda Supt John Coleman, of Abbeyleix.
The superintendent appealed for witnesses to come forward. "If anyone saw anything on the road between 11 a.m. and 12 noon they should get in touch with us", he said.
The dead women, who were taken to Portlaoise General Hospital, were Mrs Josephine Kelly (41), a mother of five, from Farnans, Wolfhill, Ballylinan; her daughter, Lisa (19), a student at Carlow Institute of Technology; and Mrs Kelly's sister-in-law, Mrs Sandra Kelly (38), a mother of four, from Ballylehane Upper, Wolfhill.
The driver of the car, Mr Michael McDonald (17), from the nearby parish of Doonane, was also taken to Portlaoise General Hospital, but was later transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, where his condition was described last night as "critical".
Ms Mary O'Neill, who works at Knowles bar and grocery, close to the scene of the accident, said that everyone was shocked. The accident had happened on a stretch of roadway which had already claimed lives, she said.
Speaking about the driver of the car involved in the accident, Ms O'Neill said: "The McDonald family were very well liked and respected and Michael helped his father deliver coal."
Michael McDonald, a third-level student, had been driving tractors for many years and more recently had begun to drive his mother's car.
The parish priest of Arles, Father Tommie O'Shea, said that it was a very sad day. "There is a cloud over the whole area. People are huddled together in disbelief."
He said that Mrs Josephine Kelly's children ranged in age from two to 19, while the youngest of Mrs Sandra Kelly's children was seven. Their husbands worked together as builders.
One local said it was a "cruel twist of fate" that Lisa Kelly had been able to go out walking with her mother and Sandra Kelly only because she did not have to attend college on Mondays.
As Father O'Shea put it: "It was a lovely morning. You would imagine it would be safe to be out."
Anyone with information on the accident should contact the gardai at Abbeyleix by telephoning 0502-31202.