LAST UPDATE | 11 Feb 2022

GARDAÍ HAVE APPEALED for witnesses and dash-cam footage after a 12-year-old boy died when the car he was driving collided head-on with an articulated lorry in Co Limerick today.

The boy, named locally as Wiktor Chojecki from Newcastle West, was driving a grey Nissan Qashqai owned by his family just before 2am, when it collided with a truck. 

The horrific crash, which left the boy dead at the scene, occurred on the N21 at Rineroe near Adare, Gardaí said.

The boy whose mother, Ewa, and father, Bartosc, settled in Newcastle West after emigrating from their native Poland, was a first-year student attending Scoil Mhuire agus Ide in the town, and a past pupil at the local Gaelscoil O’Doghair.

Sean Lane, prinicpal of Scoil Mhuire agus Ide, said the boy started secondary school last September and that he was popular amongst pupils and teachers.

“Wiktor is sadly missed, his lots of friends in the school are upset this morning after hearing the tragic news, and the family are in Newcastle West for many many years and are very much part of the community,” said Lane.

Ewa and Bartosc Chojecki were being comforted by family and friends and a large Polish community in Newcastle West.

Tributes

Classmates of the boy were informed this morning and prayers were held at the secondary school he attended. 

“We were all very shocked and upset to learn of the tragedy this morning and it’s very hard for our students to put into words how they are feeling, but there is great sadness and shock amongst all the school community,” principal Lane said.

“The death of anyone from part of our school community really effects you, so we are just trying to support each other in the school, and that’s the biggest thing in these situations, is to offer support to everyone within our school community and in the local community to try to help each other through these difficult times.”

Deputy Mayor of Limerick Tom Ruddle told The Journal that it was a “shock” for the whole area. 

It was tragic for the town to wake up to the news this morning. It’s someone so young – no parent should have to deal with that.

Paying tribute to the boy, Lane said: “He was very well liked and he mixed well with students and with staff members, and there are a number fo staff members who are particularly upset because he would have had chats with them everyday. A lot of our students who would have been at primary school with him are also very upset, especially across our first year group.”

“He was at the Gaelscoil primary school here in town, so he would have been well known and part of a big class group there and part of a big group here, so his loss will be felt right across the school community.”

Local councillor Michael Collins, who knows the family, said they have been living in Newcastle West for several years. 

A sudden death like this is always so sad and tough, but the young fella here is only 12… Our sympathies are with [the family] and with the wider Polish community in Newcastle West.

Limerick TD and Minister of State Niall Collins told Limerick radio station Live 95 that the details are especially shocking.

“We’re used to hearing about road collisions but never are we used to hearing of a road collision where a child aged 12 is the driver,” he said. 

“Out thoughts are with the family but also with the truck driver who I know is quite shaken by the incident.”

The details of the tragedy

Gardaí and emergency services were alerted to the fatal crash just before 2am and discovered the boy deceased and trapped in the car which had been completely destroyed in the collision.

Emergency service workers used cutting tools to free the boy from the car and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The truck driver was not injured and was being treated for severe shock.

Local Fine Gael Councillor Adam Tesky said the tight-knit rural community had been plunged into sadness shock: “First of all as a councillor representing people in the area, I would like to express my sincere sympathy and condolences to the family, and I want to express my sincere gratitude to the emergency first responders and members of An Garda Síochána and Limerick Fire Service that went to help at the scene.”

“But also, our thoughts are with the driver of the lorry for what he witnessed and must have seen last night, it must have been harrowing for him.”

The other thing I just wanted to say was there are a lot of people in the boy’s age group that have lost a friend and there is a pupil missing from his school desk today, so obviously he has friends that will be mourning his grief and his loss.

Cllr Tesky added: “I would say to people, just to be careful in terms of commentaries on social media platforms, because nobody knows the circumstances and what were involved and having a guy of such a young age to be driving a propelled vehicle last night.”

Treated as a tragic accident

Gardaí were keeping an open mind as to the circumstances that led to the boy being behind the wheel of the car in the early hours of the morning, and a Garda source said investigating officers were treating it as a tragic accident.

Gardaí were working on the theory that the boy took the car for a spin without his family’s knowledge. The boy’s family were described by several sources as “decent” and “hard working” people.

“The driver of the car, a male juvenile, was fatally injured, he was the sole occupant of the car, his body has since been removed to the morgue at University Hospital Limerick, and the coroner has been notified,” said a garda spokesman.

“The driver of the lorry, a man in his 40s, did not require hospital treatment. The scene is preserved for examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators.”

Traffic diversions were in put place near the scene on the N21, with Limerick City bound traffic diverted from the village of Adare via Croom.

“Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward. Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling on the N21 near Adare area at the time of the collision are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí,” said the garda spokesman.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Newcastle West Garda Station 069 20650, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station. 

With reporting by David Raleigh and Eoghan Dalton