24/03/2003

Roads claim six lives over the weekend

In a weekend of tragedy on the province's roads, six people are known to have died as a result of car accidents.

On Saturday, Gareth Caldwell, a 38-year-old motorcyclist, died following a collision at Gortree Road, Drumahoe, Co Londonderry.

Also on Saturday, two men died when the car they were travelling in ploughed into a disused post office building. Thirty-one-year-old Gerard Patrick McCollum and 39-year-old Patrick James Boyle, both from Omagh, died following the incident on the Glenpark Road, Gortin, Co Tyrone. The driver of the vehicle is in a serious condition in hospital.

On Sunday, a 33-year-old man died following a collision at Glenshane Road in Magherafelt, Co Londonderry. The collision involved a Toyota Hiace van and a Mercedes box van. A police officer who attended the scene also suffered a leg injury when he was struck by a car.

Yesterday, a 96-year-old man succumbed to injuries he received in a road traffic collision at Milltown Road in Belfast on Friday. The collision involved a Nissan Micra and a Peugeot 306.

And 43-year-old James McLaughlin, from west Belfast, who was hit by a vehicle in the west of the city last Thursday has also died as a result of his injuries.

Following the weekend death toll, a total of 44 people have now died on Northern Ireland's roads so far this year.

(GMcG)

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