The road to Wattle Bridge was closed after the fatal road traffic collision on Tuesday afternoon that claimed the life of a man in his thirties.
A NEWTOWNBUTLER housewife has told the Herald how she came upon the scene of a two-vehicle road traffic collision near Newtownbutler yesterday, Tuesday afternoon in which a local man in his early 30s died.
The man who died has been named as Declan Butler from Maguiresbridge.
The incident occurred on the Wattlebridge road, on the northern side of the border near a bend at McCaffrey’s Sawmills. The woman lives along that road.
“I was heading home out of Newtownbutler. This was about 1pm-1.30pm and I came upon a group of men on the road trying to resuscitate this body on the side of the road. They were pumping on his chest.
“The police and ambulance had still to arrive. There was a lorry in a field and whether there was anybody in the lorry, I can’t tell you. As far as I could make out, there was a jeep and it was in pieces, although I couldn’t really make out what it was.”
Still shocked at what she saw, she explained that the scene of the accident was after a bend at McCaffrey’s Sawmills and she said the road along that stretch was bumpy.
“I was shivering because someone I knew was nearly killed – even though I wasn’t in the car – about two months ago, and I didn’t wish to see any more.”
She said the men who were trying to revive the young man had stopped and got out of their vehicles.
The scene, she said, is about two and half miles from Newtownbutler. A police spokesman confirmed that a man in his 30s was fatally injured. There have been reports that the lorry involved in the crash may have been carrying timber.
The road remained closed last night at the junction of the Wattlebridge and Galloon Island roads close to St Mary’s Primary School.
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