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Irish Examiner 8-6-98

THE parents of two young women, killed in a freak weekend accident were distraught yesterday, after the loss of their entire family. Liam and Anne Higgins attended morning Mass yesterday - hours after both their children were killed in an accident which has gardaí baffled. Anne Higgins was on a Rosary pilgrimage to Knock when she learned one of her daughters was dead and the other was barely clinging to life. As her husband Liam held vigil at Cork University Hospital, Anne's neighbours, Bobby and Assumpta O'Brien drove her from Knock to Cork in the company of her Parish Priest, Fr. Patrick Scanlon. Anne arrived in time to be with her husband and comfort their 25-year-old daughter, Fiona, as she passed away late on Saturday night. The couple's other daughter, Marie, aged 23, was pronounced dead at the scene of the horrific accident on the Midleton by-pass shortly after 9.15 a.m. on Saturday. A family relative, who did not wish to be named, said the tragedy had shocked everyone: "They were both highly intelligent. Marie was into farm management. She was a hugely talented girl and from the earliest age she was capable of jumping up on a tractor and organising the farm. She had a bubbly personality and touched the lives of everyone who met her." "There are young people everywhere totally devastated by this. Fiona had just got a new job in the last few days. She had completed a Masters in Food Science at UCC and was doing research and heard just a couple of days ago about a new job in industry. "She was very sporty and they were both very popular. The whole community is devastated," the relative said.

From Greenpark, Upper Aghada, Midleton, the two girls were on their way to Dublin to visit a friend when their Ford Fiesta crashed into a bridge and hung perilously over a 20 foot drop until rescuers arrived. The victims had to be cut from the wreckage. This was the second freak fatal accident on that stretch of road in the past 12 months. A garda spokesman said the cause of the crash was still a mystery. "They were travelling towards Cork from Midleton. They overtook a lorry at normal speed and the car went straight into the corner of the bridge and was left hanging over the edge. They seemed to just go straight into it. "It's unexplained, unless there was a blow-out. It just can't be explained," a garda spokesman said. The car did have a flat tyre when technically examined yesterday but this may have been caused on impact.