Get you up to speed: Five teenagers killed after car drives wrong way on M9 are pictured | News World
Five teenagers died after driving the wrong way down the M9 motorway in Co Kildare, Ireland, in pursuit of social media engagement. A family car was involved in the collision, with multiple injuries reported among the family members.
The incident occurred early on Sunday morning at approximately 3 am near Junction 3 of the M9 in Co Kildare, where emergency services were alerted to a vehicle travelling the wrong way. Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly stated that officers were advised not to pursue the stolen BMW involved, highlighting a lack of training for police in handling such high-risk situations.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly condemned the reckless behaviour of the teenagers, stating they were “playing Russian roulette with their lives and everyone else’s lives” in pursuit of social media likes. Following the incident, Gardaí emphasised a lack of training for officers in pursuing vehicles travelling contraflow on motorways, and warned of further measures needed to address the dangerous actions associated with the ‘lucky dip’ gang, which has been linked to numerous incidents this year.
What remains unclear — The extent of injuries sustained by the family members involved in the crash has not been fully detailed.
Five teenagers named following fatal wrong-way crash on M9 in Co Kildare
The five teenagers had failed to stop for the Irish police before they sped the wrong way down the motorway
Five boys who died after driving contraflow on a motorway in pursuit of’ ‘social media likes’ have been named and pictured for the first time.
Kamil Pustkowski, Joey Carthy, Alex McCarthy, Jack Kennedy and Jeremy O’Brien sped the wrong way down the M9 in Co Kildare, crashing into a family heading on holiday.
The quintet, all believed to be aged between 15 and 18, had failed to stop for Gardaí, the Irish police force, before they crashed into a Hyundai carrying a family heading to Dublin airport for a holiday.
A woman in her 20s and two women in their 30s were injured, as well as a seven-year-old.
A stolen BMW ploughed into a family car after speeding up the wrong way on the M9 motorway in Co Kildare, Ireland (Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire)
Jeremy O’Brien was in the stolen BMW when it crashed into a Hyundai carrying a family going on holiday (Picture: Facebook)
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Kamil Pustowski’s family have been notified of his death (Picture: TikTok)
The woman in her 20s was also severely injured and is being treated in St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny, while the other two female passengers are receiving medical care in Tallaght University Hospital in south Co Dublin.
It is also understood that all those who died were travelling in the vehicle driving in the wrong direction.
The group of boys have since been linked to the so-called ‘lucky dip’ gang, a network of teenage joyriders first identified by the Gardaí last year.
The name derives from the gang’s tendency to target areas at random to steal cars.
‘Lucky dip’ is thought to comprise of some 60 members, with some aged as young as 14.
Some three hundred incidents were linked to the group in the first three months of this year alone.
Alex McCarthy was among five killed in the crash on the M9 in County Kildare
Jack Kennedy was in the car that crashed into a family about to go on holiday (Picture: TikTok)
Primarily operating by night, the group joyrides vehicles to generate viral footage for Tiktok and Instagram, following a trend of dangerous social media stunts.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said the incident was made all the more reckless as it was done ‘for social media likes’.
Those pursuing social media engagement are ‘playing Russian roulette with their lives and everyone else’s lives’, he warned.
He added that police were not equipped to tackle these kinds of high risk incidents, including motorists that deliberately travel contraflow on motorways, following reports officers were advised not to pursue the stolen BMW.
Joey Carthy also lost his life in the fatal crash in Co Kildare (Picture: Tiktok)
He said: ‘There’s not one member of An Garda Síochána trained in pursuit – never mind in dealing with cars going down the wrong way.’
They had been travelling on the correct side of the road, driving to Dublin Airport, with images showing suitcases at the roadside.
Pictures from the scene show one vehicle on the grass to the side of the motorway and covered in red tarp, while the other lies in pieces on the road.
A cousin of Joe Carthy and Alex McCarthy wrote on social media: ‘Rest in peace my two cousins Alex and Joey
‘May you get the best bed in heaven, watch over your mother and father and brothers and sisters at this hard time.’
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