Overview
- Police say a Volkswagen Golf and a Toyota Land Cruiser collided on the L3168 at Gibstown just after 9pm, with five occupants of the Golf pronounced dead at the scene.
- Three others were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda with non-life-threatening injuries, including one man from the Golf and a man and woman from the Land Cruiser.
- The road remains closed for a technical and forensic examination, an incident room is active at Dundalk Garda Station, post-mortems are planned, and family liaison officers have been assigned.
- Those who died were three men and two women in their early 20s, reported to be from Carrickmacross and Drumconrath, with one woman from Scotland.
- Local officials cited very bad weather and a hazardous, unlit stretch of road, as national leaders expressed condolences on a day marking remembrance for road traffic victims, with 157 road deaths recorded in Ireland this year.