‘It’s too late’

A FAMILY TORN APART?Sanjeev Chada (43) is pictured with his now deceased sons Eoghan (10) and Ruairi (5).

‘It’s too late’


Cry of father as locals approached car with two dead children in boot

Neill O’Neill

GARDAÍ investigating yesterday’s (Monday) discovery of the bodies of two children in the boot of a crashed car in Westport, believe that they did not die in the single-vehicle accident. The coast road between Westport and Belclare remained closed last night, as the bodies of Eoghan (10) and Ruairi (5) Chada, from Carlow, remained where they were found, in the boot of the car that was being driven by their father Sanjeev Chada.
The green Ford Focus collided with a wall around 3.30pm yesterday, and seconds later, when locals arrived on the scene of what they thought was a routine traffic accident involving only the driver, they inadvertently made a discovery that has stunned communities in Carlow, Westport and across Ireland.
The first indication that the peace of a bright summer’s afternoon in Westport was about to be shattered came shortly after 3.30pm yesterday, when the wailing of successive sirens through the town announced that something serious had occurred.
At the same time some local people and tourists who had stopped to attend at a single-vehicle car accident at Clooneen, Rosbeg, three kilometers from Westport on the winding coast road, were making a grim discovery in a green Ford Focus which had struck the garden wall of a private house, having emerged from the T junction of a narrow road opposite, without stopping.

Shocking discovery
Noticing a child seat, and deciding to check the car for occupants other than the driver amid smoke and dust from the deployed airbags, that made visibility in the car poor, they discovered the bodies of two children in the boot.
Gardaí are following a line of inquiry that the children did not die in the accident, but had been dead for some hours prior to the crash. They were named shortly afterwards as Eoghan and Ruairi Chada, who had been reported missing by their mother to Gardaí in Carlow around 1.30am yesterday morning, when they failed to return to their home in Ballinkillen, from a bowling trip with their father, Sanjeev Chada.
Gardaí had earlier issued a national Child Rescue Ireland alert seeking the public’s help in finding the children. They issued an appeal for anyone who saw a dark-green Ford Focus - 06 CW 238 - to contact them in Westport on 098 50230. This is the car that crashed into the wall in Rosbeg, yesterday afternoon.
The driver, named as the father of the two boys, was taken to Mayo General Hospital with injures described as ‘not serious’. Those who were first on the scene described his behaviour as ‘very peculiar’ and said he refused to accept their attempts to help. They struggled to open his door, and he remained in the car when they did and was mumbling “It’s too late.” He asked for a phone, was given one, and was making a call when the local man and a British national, who was also on the scene, made the discovery in the boot.
Gardaí from Westport arrived almost immediately thereafter and took over the crash site. A doctor, also a British national, and his wife, a nurse, had arrived on the scene also, and were asked by Gardaí to tend to the children. They did whatever they could but confirmed both were dead.

Call received
A call was then received to the phone of the local man who was first on the scene and who had given his phone to Sanjeev Chada. It was from Carlow Garda Station, who it is thought may have traced back the call Mr Chada had made from inside the car at the crash site. The local man surrendered his phone to gardaí as evidence. By this stage Gardaí had completely sealed the whole area, closing the road, and preserving the scene.
A forensics tent was erected around the car, which remained in situ where it had hit the wall. The scene was being preserved for forensic technical examination last night, and the Office of the  State Pathologist was notified. Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Khalid Jabbar, was expected at the scene later yesterday evening and the Garda Technical Bureau was on site from early evening.
Three ambulances, an advance paramedic jeep, the fire brigade, and several garda cars were at the scene, in what was a major incident response in the area. Sanjeev Chada was cut from the car and removed to hospital where he remained under garda watch last night. He is said to be helping investigators with their inquiries. A superintendent from the Garda Press Office was due to hold a press conference in Westport Garda Station last night, amid a flurry of local and international media interest.
It was not known yesterday evening why Sanjeev Chada had travelled to Westport, or if there was any particular reason for him to have done so. Neither were there any indications as to where he had spent the earlier part of the day, or indeed, why he was driving on such a narrow road, which would usually be only known to, and used by, those living in that specific area.
A press conference took place at Westport Garda Station last night at 9.30pm. It is thought that the results of post mortem examinations on the children will determine where the investigation goes to next.


SHOCKING DISCOVERY?The tragic scene at Rosbeg, Westport, where two boys were found dead in the boot of a crashed car.?Pic: Conor McKeown