BOTH DRIVERS WENT THROUGH GREEN LIGHTS.

Byline: EOIN REYNOLDS

ACCIDENT investigators believe Garda cars with flashing lights went through a busy city junction moments before the horrific tram and bus smash.

The probe has already heard that the bus driver had a green light and is examining why the Luas kept going.

The latest evidence from reliable witnesses and CCTV footage suggests Nigerian driver Yomi Emmanuel - hurt in the freak accident - had also passed through a green light.

But he stopped to let the two squad cars pass at the junction of O'Connell Street and Abbey Street And when he started again the bus was moving and they collided.

The 36-year-old Luas driver from Lagos arrived in Ireland as an asylum seeker around 10 years ago and was housed at the former Mosney Holiday Centre in Co Meath. A source said: "He was granted permission to stay and he married a local woman.

"They have a five-year-old son but they split up some years back. He has a new partner now and has had a second child and lives in Dublin. His first wife is still living in east Meath."

Yomi is in St James' Hospital in Dublin where his injuries are described as minor. Twenty-six people were injured after the No16 bus and Yomi's Luas tram crashed on Wednesday afternoon.

An 18-year-old girl suffered severe head injuries and went through emergency surgery at the Beaumont Hospital yesterday. CIE chairman Dr John Lynch said traffic lights had given the Dublin Bus driver right of way just before the accident. He said: "The indications that we have on the CCTV is fairly clear that the driver had a green light."

"What can a driver do if he has a green light except go through?"

A Railway Safety Commission probe was under way along with separate investigations by gardai, Dublin Bus, Luas operator Veolia and the Department of Transport.

Dr Lynch added: "It will be a while because they've got to go into everything.

"They have our CCTV but they have got to look at [whether] the Luas had any CCTV and was there a problem?" The tram from Tallaght derailed on impact ploughing into the bus to Santry, pinning passengers against broken glass and mangled seats.

Three people were in hospital yesterday after the collision, including the Luas driver who sustained cuts and bruises.

A Luas spokeswoman declined to comment on Dr Lynch's claims.

She said: "We are conducting our own investigation and we are also co-operating with separate investigations by the Gardai and the Railway Safety Commission."

The crash prompted calls for an urgent safety review from Labour transport spokesman Tommy Broughan.

He said: "Major question marks remain over the performance of the Railway Safety Commission and the failure of the Government to properly resource this critical rail safety agency."

One other possibiility is that there was a fault and both drivers had green lights.

Gardai yesterday appealed for witnesses to the collision to come forward. A spokesman said they would like to speak to anyone in the area to come forward.

CAPTION(S):

PROBE Gardai and workmen at the crash scene RESCUE Firefighters at wreckage INJURED Luas driver Yomi, 36 MYSTERY Probe at Connell Street in Dublin yesterday