LAST UPDATE | 5 Sep

GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING whether a hit-and-run incident in which a teenage boy was killed in Co Clare may have been deliberate. 

Shortly after 11pm on Friday, the boy, who was aged in his mid-teens and had been on what is believed to be an electric dirt bike, was found unresponsive by the roadside on the L3050 at Cottage Cross on the Clare-Limerick border near Cloonlara.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Gardaí said a second vehicle involved in the incident failed to remain at the scene.

The Journal understands that the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run has subsequently been found partially burnt out on Saturday in Castleconnell, Co Limerick, which is about 15km away from where the incident took place. 

The scene has been preserved for examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators and local traffic diversions are currently in place.

The coroner has been notified and a post-mortem examination will be arranged.

Gardaí are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward.

Any road users who were in the Cloonlara area at the time and may have camera footage, including dash-cam footage, are asked to make it available to them.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Henry Garda Station on (061) 212400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.

With reporting from Niall O’Connor