Three members of a family remained seriously ill yesterday after a road accident in Co Waterford in which four people were killed.
The head-on crash happened in misty weather on the main Waterford-Cork road near Dungarvan at 3.20 p.m. on Saturday.
Two more people died on the roads on Saturday night, bringing the number of fatalities so far this year to 38, according to Garda figures.
Both the latest victims were pedestrians. An 11-year-old girl died in Monaghan General Hospital after being struck by a car near her home at 9.45 p.m. She was named yesterday as Abby Fanning, of Mall Road, Monaghan.
Shortly before midnight on Saturday, a man was killed when hit by a car at Keenoge, near Julianstown, Co Meath. Mr Conor Maguire (33), from Brecan Close, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, but was dead on arrival.
The Garda Press Office said road deaths to date this year were already four up on the combined figure for January and February 1999, when 34 people died.
The overall trend has been downwards in recent years; from 472 fatalities in 1997 to 458 in 1998 and 413 last year.
The men who died in the Waterford crash were Mr Mark Collopy (23), from Powerscourt, and Mr James Walsh (19), St John's Park.
They were returning to the city from Cork when the accident happened. Both died instantly when their car collided with a van travelling in the opposite direction.
One passenger in the van, Ms Ruth Lugg, from West Sussex, was also killed instantly. Her daughter, Mrs Jane Doherty, who came from West Sussex, but lived in Abbeyside, Dungarvan, was taken by Air Corps helicopter to Waterford Regional Hospital where she died later.
Mrs Doherty's husband, Mr Trevor Doherty, and their two children, Rosie (10) and Joe (7), were taken to the same hospital. A spokeswoman said yesterday the children were making good progress and Mr Doherty's condition was critical but stable.