Community 'can't comprehend' loss of mum and daughter in crash

A woman and a child who were killed in a road collision in County Donegal on Wednesday evening have been named as Natalie McLaughlin and her daughter Ella.

Six-year-old Ella McLaughlin died at the scene of the crash, which involved a car and a van, on the R240 at Glentogher, Carndonagh, on Wednesday.

Her mother Natalie, a nurse who was in her 20s, had been taken to Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry and later transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where she died on Thursday evening.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ is reporting Natalie's partner, who is in his 30s, and her other two-year-old daughter are being treated in hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

Foyle assembly member Mark H Durkan posted on Facebook that Natalie had worked in a local doctor's surgery and was "known and respected in the area".

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme, Fianna Fáil councillor Martin McDermott said people locally were finding it difficult to "comprehend what has happened".

"This is a young mother and a young child, it has a real effect on people, on the community, people just don't know what to say.

"Everybody's life in that circle is changed forevermore."

He added: "It has been very, very difficult over the last couple of days, it will be difficult over the next number of days, over the weeks and months ahead particularly for the families involved."

The Inishowen peninsula, McDermott said, had seen tragedy on the roads on far too many occasions, adding that the community would now rally around those most profoundly affected by Wednesday night's crash.

It happened on the main road between Carndonagh and Quigley's Point, which is about 11 miles (17.7km) from the border with Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

On Thursday, Fr Con McLaughlin said it was difficult to put into words the sense of grief locally.

"At Mass this morning I spoke to people about it and they were shocked into silence," he said.

"You could feel the silence, people are really shocked.

"Words are not adequate to express how you feel in this situation and how much worse it must be for the family concerned."

He said he had been to Altnagelvin hospital on Wednesday and said the scene was "something I will never forget".

Gardaí have asked anyone who witnessed the collision or who has dashcam footage to come forward.