BY ADRIAN MULLAN
The 16-year-old girl who died yesterday (Wednesday) when the school bus in which she was travelling was in collision with a lorry near Ballygawley, was Nicola Murray, from Killeeshil. The community and people in the Dungannon and Ballygawley area are said to be shocked, saddened, and angry, at this most recent tragedy on a road that claims lives with frightening regularity.
Nicola, who was a twin, died shortly after being taken to Craigavon Area Hospital. She was a student at St Ciaran's High School, Ballygawley. The deceased girl's parents visited the scene of the tragedy on Wednesday afternoon.
A second child, a girl aged nine, a pupil of St Mary's Primary School, and a cousin of the deceased, is still very seriously ill following the collision. She has been transferred from Craigavon Hospital to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.
Staff and students' at St Ciaran's High School have extended their sympathies to the families of the deceased girl and of the child who is still seriously ill, and all the others who were injured in the tragedy.
The principal of St Ciaran's, Aidan Taggart said, "Our thoughts, prayers and the sympathy of the entire school is extended to the family at this very difficult time.
"The students of St Ciaran's are being supported through this distressing period by the pastoral care team of the school assisted by the Southern Education and Library Board's Critical Response Team."
Six other pupils and the bus driver were injured in the crash which occurred on Ballygawley Road, at Cabragh, at around 8.15am. The accident happened as the bus was turning into St Mary's Primary School and, following the collision, the bus ended up in a field. There were seventeen children on the bus at the time of the collision. The driver of the lorry was arrested by police but was released pending further investigations.
Five ambulances attended the scene and eight people were ferried to hospital. Most were released on Wednesday afternoon after treatment.
Councillor Seamus Shields, who knows the area well, has extended his condolences to the bereaved family and to the families of those injured in the crash.
He said that that particular stretch of road had claimed the lives of four people, personally known to him, in the past 18 months. He said that any future plans for the road had first and foremost to ensure safety.
He added that all of the major accidents on the road had involved lorries; "I'm not attributing blame. It is the road itself, it's not suited to carrying that volume of heavy traffic, there are a lack of restrictions on speed and lack of restrictions on lorries crossing the carriageways."
Cllr Shields called for the A4 and A5 roads to have central barriers and reservations installed.
Those sentiments were echoed by West Tyrone MLA Barry McElduff, who said that the road had a long and very serious history of tragic accidents. He said that community representatives had long since been highlighting its dangers.
He too offered his sympathies to the families of the deceased and injured and said safety concerns must be at the forefront of any future duelling of the A4 Road. He said that the matter was so serious that it must become the subject for discussion at the next North South Ministerial council given the fact that the road is to form part of national road strategy.
Inspector Sue Steen of the PSNI who is conducting the inquiry into the crash has expressed her gratitude to the emergency services who were quickly on the scene of the accident. She appealed for witnesses and asked for anyone who may have come upon the accident to contact the police. Inspector Steen also expressed her sorrow at the loss of life and injuries suffered in the collision.
