Irish driver died in blaze following artic collision
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Whether or not a truck driver was asleep when he was burnt to death following a crash last year will never be known, according to a coroner.
A verdict of death by incineration was returned on Kevin Kelly last week: he was slumped in his seat and driving on the wrong side of the road when he crashed into an oncoming artic last August. The accident could have been the result of fatigue.
Kelly was driving a new MAN tractive unit and trailer at the time, hauling bread to the Dublin distribution depot of Brennans Bread, He died in the fire that followed the crash on the N7 at Toomevarra, County Tipperary.
Flames shot 5Crft into the air after the impact—Kelly was so badly burnt that only parts of his body could be identified, the inquest heard.
The other driver, haulier Edward O'Halloran, from Cork, tried to avoid the collision by swerving to the right; but Kelly crashed into the passenger side of his truck. O'Halloran was thrown through the windscreen to land beneath the burning wreckage with multiple fractures.
A father and son from a nearby house pulled him from the fire and saved his life. They covered him with a blanket until emergency services arrived.
O'Halloran was hauling a load of steel girders with a Mercedes tractive unit and trailer when the accident occurred.
The crash is expected to be the subject of civil actions in the High Court.