Two people have been hospitalised, one with serious injuries, following multi-vehicle collisions on the M18 motorway in Co Clare.
Emergency services from three countries responded to the scene of the incidents involving a total of five vehicles on the M18 at Dromoland at around 10.30pm last night.
Gardaí responded to the scene followed by a number of National Ambulance Service resources from Limerick and Clare as well as units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Ennis and Shannon stations.
Additional support was requested from Galway Fire and Rescue Service who dispatched two units from Gort station.
The collisions happened at the same time and location and across all four lanes of the motorway about 500m south of the Dromoland interchange. Three vehicles lost control and crashed in the southbound lanes while on the other side of the motorway, two more cars crashed.
It’s understood that a man who had gotten out of one of the cars was then struck by another car travelling in the same direction. The man is believed to have suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Ambulance paramedics assessed a number of people at the scene before a woman and a man aged in their 20s and 50s were taken to hospital for further treatment.
It appears that the vehicles all lost control on the hazardous surface following a downpour of hailstone.
Gardaí in Ennis are appealing for anyone who witnesses the incidents or have dashcam footage from the time of the collisions, to contact them on 056 6848100.
