Black day for haulage industry as two die in truck crashes

Two people died in separate road accidents involving heavy goods vehicles yesterday (June 05).

The first accident took place on the N7 at Clonalea, Tommevara at 9.30am yesterday morning, when a car which was attempting to overtake a mini-bus collided with an oncoming lorry.

Franz Blazer, 36, died instantly in the head-on collision. The accident left a nine-year-old girl orphaned. In January 2002, Mr Blazer's partner and his child's mother, Valerie Downey was killed in a car crash in Lanzarote. Last night his daughter Alyssa was being comforted by her grandparents. Gardai said the accident happened on a straight stretch of road in excellent driving conditions.

The second fatality occurred on the N8 between Littleton and Urlingford at 11.15am. A woman in her 50s was killed when the jeep she was driving collided with a lorry. The woman, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the lorry was treated for minor injuries and shock at Our Lady's Hospital in Cashel.

She was later named as Maureen Carney, Killeens, Ballynunty, Thurles. She was driving a pick-up truck with trailer when it collided with the rear of a car. It then spun into the path of the oncoming lorry.