A male driver in his late teens was fatally injured and a female passenger sustained injuries in a single-vehicle road crash near the south Armagh Border in Co Monaghan early yesterday.
The early morning crash happened at Maghernakill on the main Dundalk-Castleblayney road, a short distance from Ballinacarry Bridge, which spans the Monaghan/Armagh Border. The man was named locally as Ciarán McKenna (19), of Creevekeeran, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh.
Gardaí said he was fatally injured when his car went out of control at a bend on the roadway at about 4.45am. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A female companion, also 19, who was trapped in the vehicle, was extricated by firemen and removed by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. Her injuries were said not to be life-threatening.
It is understood the couple were returning from a late-night function in Castleblayney.
Garda forensic collision investigators diverted traffic following the crash, as an examination of the scene got under way.
In a second traffic incident in Co Monaghan yesterday, another driver was seriously injured in a crash on the Glaslough-Middletown road in north Monaghan. He was removed to hospital by ambulance.
Gardaí have appealed for information that will help in their investigation into both crashes.
Gardaí at Castleblayney were anxious to contact any eyewitnesses to the fatality at Maghernakill. They can be contacted at 042-9740668.