TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to the family that died in a car crash on the M6 motorway in Galway on Thursday evening.

Karzan Sabah, Shahen Qasm and the Kurdish couple’s eight-month-old baby Lena were killed after their car was hit by a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction on the motorway near Ballinasloe at around 7:40pm.

The driver of the car which had been travelling in the opposite direction on the motorway has been named as Jonasz Lach. He was the only occupant of the vehicle.

All four people were pronounced dead at the scene and their bodies were removed to Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, for post-mortems.

The Kurdish Irish Society paid tribute to the young family and expressed sympathy with their friends and relatives.

“It has been relayed that the horrific three car crash on the M6 outside Galway on Thursday resulted in which a complete Kurdish family were killed,” the society said.

Our deepest sympathy to the families and relatives of Mr Karzan Sabah, a former Phd student in agriculture, his wife Shahen and child Lena.

“May their souls be returned to Allah and let them rest in peace. God rest their souls,” the tribute concluded.

The family lived in Galway city for several years, where Karzan had been completing a PhD in insect ecology at NUI Galway.

A third car was also involved in the incident as Gardaí believe debris from the initial collision struck the vehicle and caused the driver to crash.

The driver of the third car was the only occupant of that vehicle. She was taken to hospital for non life-threatening treatment.

Gardaí have appealed for witnesses to the incident to come forward, especially drivers with dashcam footage filmed along the stretch of motorway around the time of the collision.