A CAR was driven at speed through a crowd in a County Louth graveyard over the weekend.
The incident occurred in Dundalk on Sunday, July 21, during the annual Blessing of the Graves in St Patrick’s cemetery. Screams could be heard in footage posted online as the car collided with pedestrians.
One man has been taken to hospital with serious injuries, and several more are being treated for superficial wounds.
Videos of the incident and the aftermath have been posted to social media and are being shared across sites.
NEWS: One person has been arrested after a car drove through crowds at a Blessing of the Graves ceremony in Dundalk. https://t.co/OZ4jkTkTnm pic.twitter.com/2sbtR0occI
— LMFM RADIO (@LMFMRADIO) July 21, 2019
The dark-coloured car ploughed through the crowd before coming to a stop on the street at the other side of the cemetery, where a man in his 20’s was promptly arrested by Gardaí.
The worrying incident has rocked the town, with one of the priests present telling Irish radio show Morning Ireland that he “jumped out of the way” to avoid being hit. He then anointed a man who had been struck and was suffering with serious head injuries.
Fr. Mark O’Hagan went on to describe the scene, saying that as the ceremony came to an end, those on the podium became aware of “hundreds of people just running and screaming and shouting” … “children were crying, people just walking in disbelief at what had happened, fear in people’s faces.”
The still-shaken Fr. O’Hagan added “It was very frightening”…”it’s a community, family day out where people come together.”
The motives for the attack are so far unknown, but some locals are chalking the incident up to an ongoing gang feud in the surrounding areas.
It is being reported that the car in question had been hijacked by the driver in the carpark of the cemetery where he carried out his attack.
A shirtless man believed to be the driver was spotted being held down by Gardaí nearby and is currently being detained at Dundalk Garda Station.
