Update:
The man has been named locally as father-of-five John Jamieson.
Local councillor Pat Burke said: “The communities of Whitegate and Mountshannon are devastated by this news. We had only buried another local man when word filtered through about this tragedy. It was devastating news and came as an awful shock. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Jamieson family.”
A man has died following a single-vehicle road traffic collision in Co Clare this afternoon.
The incident occurred in the east of the county a short distance from Mountshannon on the R352 Scarriff to Portumna road at around 3.00pm. A second man, also in his 60s, who was travelling in the car at the time escaped with minor injuries. He was taken to hospital for treatment.
It’s understood the driver, a man aged 62, lost control of his vehicle before it left the road and overturned.
An ambulance and rapid response advanced paramedic unit responded to the scene along two units of the fire brigade from Scarriff.
The Emergency Aeromedical Service (EAS) air ambulance was also tasked to the incident and landed in a field close to the scene. The man was however pronounced dead at the scene.
The man’s body was later removed by hearse to University Hospital Limerick for a post-mortem examination. The local Coroner has also been notified of the death.
The road has been closed to facilitate an examination of the scene by Garda forensic collision investigators. Diversions have been set up in the area as the route is expected to remain closed for several hours.
Gardaí have appealed for witnesses and have asked anyone who travelled the road between Mountshannon and Whitegate between 2.30pm and 3.00pm yesterday to contact Killaloe Garda station on 061 620540 or any Garda station if the saw anything or have any information.
It is believed however that one of the possibilities Gardaí are looking at is that the driver suffered a medical episode immediately prior to the collision.