A serious early-morning wrong-way collision on one of Dublin’s busiest orbital motorways has left nine people injured, with two patients fighting for life in hospital, Irish police have confirmed.
The crash unfolded at 5:30 a.m. local time on Sunday along the southbound carriage of the M50, near Junction 12 in the Firhouse area of Dublin. Investigators say the first vehicle, carrying eight male juveniles, was traveling the wrong direction down an on-ramp when it slammed head-on into a oncoming privately operated car.
Emergency services rushed all occupants of both vehicles to nearby hospitals across the region for urgent care. Of the eight young people in the wrong-way vehicle, one remains in critical condition, according to updates from local health authorities. The driver of the second vehicle, a man in his 20s, is also hospitalized with serious injuries, though no further update on his prognosis has been released as of Sunday afternoon.
In the wake of the collision, Irish national police, known locally as gardaí, have implemented a full closure of the affected southbound stretch of motorway between Junction 12 and Junction 11. Local diversion routes have been put in place to redirect through traffic away from the crash site, where forensic investigators are now conducting a detailed examination of the scene to piece together the cause of the incident.
Authorities are issuing a public appeal for assistance with their investigation. Any road users who were traveling through the Firhouse area of the M50 between 5:00 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, or anyone who has dashcam footage from the collision site or surrounding approaches, is asked to contact local gardaí to share any information that could advance the investigation.