LAST UPDATE | 1 May
TWO PEOPLE WHO died following a road traffic collision in the Doogary Road area of Omagh, Co Tyrone last night have been named locally.
Kamile Vaicikonyte, aged 17, died in the incident alongside 19-year-old Jamie Moore.
The Doogary Road is part of the A5, which has seen a high number of fatalities.
Since September 2016, 56 people have lost their life on the road.
Earlier this year, the Irish Government pledged €600 million to the proposed upgrade of the A5 road.
A day before Vaicikonyte’s death, she had taken part in a school protest calling for the A5 to be upgraded.
Inspector Cherith Adair, from the Collision Investigation Unit of the PSNI, said the single vehicle road traffic collision happened at around 9.50pm last night, involving a blue BMW.
Both of the deceased died at the scene.
Adair said the investigation is continuing and appealed to anyone who was travelling in the area and has dash-cam footage, to contact the Collision Investigation Unit on 101, and quote reference number 1806 of 30/04/24.
Sinn Féin vice-president and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill described the incident as “absolutely heartbreaking” and called for the A5 upgrade to be built.
Her party colleague and MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Michelle Gildernew said the local community is “heartbroken that another two young people have died on the A5″.
“This is another tragic reminder of the urgent need to build the A5 without delay,” she added.
Elsewhere, west Tyrone MLA for the SDLP Daniel McCrossan remarked: “Once again we wake up this morning to the devastating news that two young people have lost their lives on the A5 road.
He said his thoughts were with the families of those killed.
“I cannot imagine what they are going through and I know the community will rally around them,” he said.
“Since the return of Stormont we have already seen a number of deaths on the A5, this is happening on a regular basis and our community can not continue to brave these losses.
“Every day people are leaving their homes to travel on this road, causing huge worry in their families who can’t be sure that they will come home.”
He said progress needs to be made on the redevelopment of the A5.
“This news today is another awful reminder of the danger that everyone who travels on this road faces and it is long past time we do something about it.”
-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper
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