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Six young people killed in NI road crashes in past month

Some of the youngest victims: Clockwise from left: Jackson Turner, (7), Ryan McGovern, (7), Joshua Kelly, (6) and Ella Trainor, (6)
Some of the youngest victims: Clockwise from left: Jackson Turner, (7), Ryan McGovern, (7), Joshua Kelly, (6) and Ella Trainor, (6) Some of the youngest victims: Clockwise from left: Jackson Turner, (7), Ryan McGovern, (7), Joshua Kelly, (6) and Ella Trainor, (6)

THE roads have claimed the lives of six young people in the past four weeks alone.

The tragic loss of two 17-year-old students in a collision in Co Armagh yesterday, less than 24 hours after the death of Joshua Kelly (6) in Newtownards, had added to a horrific year of fatalities of young people on our roads.

Before the latest three deaths, another three youngsters had died in road crashes in the north over the last month.

Ella Trainor, who was also aged just six, was killed in a three-vehicle road crash near Newry on January 9.

She was a back seat passenger in a Volkswagen car that was in collision with a Seat car and a tractor pulling a trailer loaded with hay bales.

Seven-year-old Jackson Turner was fatally injured in a road crash in Co Antrim on St Stephen's Day.

The crash on Old Carrick Road, Newtownabbey left another seven people injured including his grandmother and four-year-old sister.

Ryan McGovern from Belcoo in Co Fermanagh was knocked down and killed in Co Fermanagh just before Christmas.

The seven-year-old was hit by a van near his home on the Lattone Road, between the village of Belcoo and Garrison on December 20.

Other crashes involving young people have included the death of teenagers Eoin Farrell from Rostrevor and James Miskelly from Mayobridge last September.

The two 17-year-old's were killed when their car smashed into a wall and careered into a nearby field in Rostrevor.

In August, three friends - Peter Hughes, Gavin Sloan and Conall Havern - were killed in a two-car collision on the A1 dual carriageway in Co Down.

The crash, which happened between Dromore and Banbridge, took place as the three Queen's University students were returning home from Belfast after finalising their accommodation in the city for the forthcoming academic year.