Co Louth crash replace as sixth individual in horror smash that killed 5 is launched from hospital
The sixth person in a car involved in a horror crash in Co Louth that saw five people lose their lives has been released from hospital.
Chloe McGee, Alan McCluskey, Dylan Commins, Shay Duffy and Chloe Hipson were killed after the Volkswagen Golf collided with a with another car on Saturday (November 15).
The sixth individual, also in his 20s, was receiving treatment in hospital for non-life threatening injuries, police confirmed earlier this week.
The person’s release from hospital comes as members of the local community came together this evening for a vigil for those who lost their lives.
Hundreds of people have taken part in vigils to remember five young adults who died.
Three separate vigils were arranged in Ardee, Co Louth; Drumconrath, Co Meath; and Aughnamullen, Co Monaghan; to pay tribute to the deceased on Tuesday night.
(Image: PA)
The victims were travelling together in a Volkswagen Golf while on their way to Dundalk for a night out when they died in the crash on Saturday.
Two other people were also injured in what Irish police described as a “shocking and devastating” crash.
The incident, which involved the Golf and a Toyota Land Cruiser, happened on a road near Dundalk just after 9pm.
Post-mortem examinations of the deceased have now been completed and their remains have been released to their families.
The two occupants of the Toyota Landcruiser, a man and a woman in their 20s, remain in hospital where they continue to receive medical treatment for non-life threatening injuries.
(Image: Liam McBurney/PA Wire)
At Drumconrath Gaelic Football Club, hundreds gathered with candles and mobile flashlights for a vigil on a cold, dark, and windy night.
The club’s flag was flown at half mast as prayers were offered to the McCluskey family, the others injured and killed in the crash as well as the emergency services who responded to the scene.
Some of those gathered wiped away tears as songs were played in tribute to those affected while the congregation also said a decade of the rosary.
Fr Finian Connaughton told the Drumconrath grouping that they were just “one community of five communities in a state of shock”.
(Image: Facebook)
He said while people may feel that there is nothing that can be done, this is not true as the community coming together was an expression of support to those affected.
He said he was confident that the McCluskeys and other affected families are “very well aware” that people are gathering and praying for them.
A table carrying photographs of Alan McCluskey was also on display.
Hundreds more gathered at the back of Sean McDermott’s GFC in Ardee where Rev Dermot Clarke, Deacon Parish of Haggardstown and Blackrock, was in attendance and led the candlelight service.
Meanwhile, gardai continue to investigate all the circumstances behind the crash and issued a renewed witness appeal.
Schoolchildren were heartbroken after their teacher, 23-year-old Chloe McGee, was named among the five individuals tragically killed in the crash.
O Fiaich College principal Padraig McGovern expressed his disbelief, saying “to think we’re going to school today and she won’t be there is an incredible shock.”
Speaking to BBC’s Good Morning Ulster earlier today (November 17), he stated: “And to convey that to students, to young people who find it difficult to process something, or even more difficult than we do, is just a major challenge.”
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