Five teenagers killed in wrong-way head-on crash on Ireland's M9 motorway

Five male teenagers travelling in one car died, and four people in a second vehicle — including a child — were seriously injured, when a wrong-way driver struck them head-on on the M9 in County Kildare at about 3am on 16 August 2026. Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said some wrong-way driving is done for social media likes. A similar M50 crash injured nine the prior weekend.