120KPH MAYHEM; 29 INJURED IN M7 HORROR 100-car pile-up in fog as drivers fail to slow.

Byline: By LYNN JOLLY

RECKLESS motorists driving at 120kph in thick fog with no lights on were blamed for a motorway pile-up yesterday.

One victim was left fighting for their life and a further 28 people - including a child - were injured after the 15 smashes on the M7 in Co Kildare during morning rush hour.

Gardai believe the initial accident, just before the M9 turn-off, involved a car crashing into a transporter which was loaded with vehicles.

This caused other knock-on smashes involving two HGVs.

Witnesses said:

MOTORBIKES, jeeps, lorries, vans and even a fire engine were among damaged vehicles

ONE woman was trapped under an articulated lorry, and

FORTY vehicles were written off but up to 100 were caught in the two-mile chaos.

Speaking at the scene Regional Traffic Superintendent Ken Brennan said: "There were two very serious accidents on the M7 north-bound and that resulted in multiple collisions.

"These were further back between the M7-M9 intersection all the way back towards the Curragh.

"There was bad fog but some drivers continued to drive at an unsafe speed without dipped headlights or fog lights.

"Unfortunately most motorists didn't adjust their driving and that contributed to the mayhem."

The injured were taken to Naas General Hospital and last night the HSE said five were admitted. A&E consultant George Little said the more serious injuries were head and spinal.

One patient was transferred to Tallaght Hospital while another six at Naas were still being assessed, and the other 17 were discharged.

It is believed an injured child was taken directly to Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.

Tony Hennessy, who runs Hennessy's Towing & Breakdown Service in Naas, moved many of the mangled vehicles from the M7.

He blamed bad driving for the catastrophe and said: "It's absolutely crazy. The cars are all written off.

"Never in my life have I seen such a thing and it's purely bad drivers in fog not slowing down."

A fleet of 38 ambulances from Dublin, Navan, Kildare, Portlaoise and Tullamore took victims from the scene, and eight paramedics and GPs also treated victims.

RTE's agriculture correspondent Joe O'Brien, who was driving with his daughter, had to brake to avoid a collision near Newbridge.

He said: "People were sitting at the side of the road with injuries.

"The fog just seemed to thicken very suddenly. What saved me was that I saw the fog thickening and immediately slowed down.

"Then I saw an Aircoach bus just in front of me and it had been involved in a collision with a motorbike and a small Nissan.

"The Nissan had been completely written off and the jeep in front of that was completely written off, and the driver taken to hospital. Another 100 yards up the road there was another incident where the ambulance people were trying to rescue a woman from underneath an articulated truck.

"It is like something from a Doomsday movie."

Another woman, who said her ABS saved her from crashing, added: "Cars were definitely going too fast for the conditions.

"They were driving at 120kph in the fast lane, but were not allowing for the conditions. And there were a lot of cars with no lights on."

AA spokesman Conor Faughnan said Irish drivers need to slow down generally and learn the rules of the road.

He added: "People act as if 120kph is a compulsory cruising speed - it is not. It is the maximum permissible speed in ideal circumstances.

"People driving at that speed on the motorway yesterday morning were asking for trouble.

"This is the first authentic motorway pile-up we have had in Ireland and it won't be the last."

Gardai said a fuel tanker also overturned in a tunnel near Kilcullen, just off the motorway.

The chaos started at around 9am and off-duty ambulance, hospital and emergency workers were drafted in to help.

Health Service Executive spokeswoman Dymphna Bracken said: "The major emergency plan was put into action at Naas General Hospital."

Anyone still worried about a loved one should call 045 849514 or 045 849521.

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CAPTION(S):

MIRACLE ESCAPE: Crushed car lies under articulated truck yesterday Picture: EAMONN FARRELL/PHOTOCALL IRELAND; MAYHEM: 15 accidents happened over 2 miles; SMASHED: Car hits back of lorry in Co Kildare; WRECKAGE: Burned-out car is towed from road near Newbridge