An elderly couple had a lucky escape this afternoon after their car was struck from behind by an articulated lorry on a busy dual-carriageway in Co Clare.
The crash happened at around 2.30pm in the southbound lanes of the N18 Shannon to Limerick road at Bunratty.
After being struck by the lorry, the car collided with the reinforced railing on a bridge the spans the Bunratty River.
GardaÃ, ambulance paramedics along with units of the fire brigade from Shannon Town and Ennis responded to the incident.
A section of the route southbound from junction 6 had to be closed after the lorry was left disabled in the roadway. Mechanics had to be brought in to carry out emergency repairs to get the truck mobile again.
Paramedics assessed the occupants of the car at the scene however, about an hour after the collision, the couple were collected by others and taken from the scene. They did not require further treatment or hospitalisation. The truck driver was also unhurt.
Road network maintenance crews were also dispatched to the scene to investigate whether any damage had been caused to the bridge and to help make the scene safe before the road could be reopened.
The N18 was fully reopened to traffic at around 4.20pm.
While emergency crews were diverting traffic away from the scene of the first collision, they had to deal with a second incident nearby. A car lost control and crashed into a ditch on the opposite side of the road to where motorists were being rerouted off the N18.
The driver was checked by paramedics but was found to be injured.