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Two young men killed in crash near Irish border

Gerry Bradley,BBC News NIand
Keiron Tourish,north west reporter
News imagePA Media A garda car is parked on a road with a garda officer in the driver's seat. An orange road sign sign says road closed, traffic accident ahead in English. Another sign in Irish and English says diverted traffic. An orange cone is sitting on the road and police tape is up. PA Media
Gardaí say the road remains closed off after the fatal crash on Tuesday night

Two young men from Londonderry have been killed and a third seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash in County Donegal near the border with Northern Ireland.

Gardaí (Irish police) said a car and a lorry were involved in the collision in the village of St Johnston, about eight miles from Derry, at 23:15 local time on Tuesday.

The passengers in the car both died due to the crash - one at the scene, the second at Altnagelvin Hospital.

The driver of the car has been taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast with serious injuries.

News imageA priest in clerical clothing standing in a garden
Fr Michael Canny says the lives of the families involved have changed forever

A senior priest has confirmed that all three came from the Shantallow area of Derry.

Fr Michael Canny, a spokesperson for the Derry diocese, has spent time with two of the families involved.

He said "no words" could offer any consolation to them and described what had happened as "total devastation".

"It's the families that are left behind and they're the ones who will carry this with them all their lives, because their lives have changed forever utterly," he said.

No other injuries have been reported in the collision.

The R236 road remained closed on Wednesday for technical examination by Garda forensic collision investigators.

Local diversions were in place.

Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the collision to come forward.

Road users who may have camera footage, including dash-cam, and were travelling in the area between 22:45 and 23:45 are asked to make this available to investigating gardaí.

News imageShows head and shoulders of a man with grey hair standing in front of a supermarket
Local businessman Raymond McDaid says the crash took place on a 'bad bend'

Raymond McDaid, who owns a car-dismantling business near the scene of the crash, said there was a "sombre mood" in the village and that everyone's heart goes out to the bereaved families.

He described the crash scene as an "accident blackspot" which requires "urgent attention".

Thomas McGrath, who works in a filling station near the crash scene, said local people were shocked by the news and there had been "countless accidents" on that stretch of road.

"It's just a tragedy and there have been so many deaths on the roads in recent days," he said.