A woman is in a critical condition in hospital in Galway after the car she was travelling in entered a turlough close to the River Corrib this morning.
The incident happened in the village of Mionloc on the outskirts of Galway city.
The woman, who is in her 30s, was a passenger in the vehicle.
The man who was driving the car is also being treated at University Hospital Galway. His injuries are not thought to be life threatening.
The incident happened on a stretch of road adjacent to a turlough, known locally as An Lochán. No other vehicles were involved.
The car - a Dacia Duster - appears to have hit a wall before careering across the narrow road and crashing through a low wall, adjacent to the flood plain. On hitting the wall, the vehicle overturned and landed upside down in the water.
The alarm was raised shortly after 7am when locals in nearby properties were woken by a loud bang.
The man and the woman were removed from the vehicle by emergency services and taken by ambulance to UHG.
Garda Forensic Collision investigators spent a number of hours conducting a technical examination at the scene.
The car was taken from the water after lunchtime and has been brought to a secure storage area, where further analysis will be carried out.
The local road on which the crash occurred was closed for several hours but has now re-opened to traffic.
Local Fine Gael Councillor, Frank Fahy, who lives a short distance from the site of the accident, said the turlough would typically be dry at this time of year, but heavy rain and high tidal conditions in recent weeks had left several feet of water in it.
He said the thoughts of people in the locality were with the families of those injured in this morning’s crash.
It happened just a short distance from Menlo Pier, where three teenagers drowned last year.
John Keenan, who was 16, died alongside 17-year-old Wojcieck Panek and Christopher Stokes, 19, after the car they were in entered the Corrib at a location less than a kilometre away from the scene of today’s incident.
