Five dead, baby saved after car plunges off pier at Irish beauty spot

LONDON:

Five people died after a car plunged off a pier at a beauty spot in northeast Ireland, but police said a baby girl was saved by a passerby.

Sea and air rescue scrambled a mission after reports that the car had fallen into the water at Buncrana, a popular tourist town on the bank of sea inlet Lough Swilly in County Donegal.

Five bodies, including of at least two children, were recovered from the water by the local coastguard.

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Police said they included a man, a woman, two boys, and another female, but a baby was rescued from the sinking vehicle with help from a member of the public.

Irish broadcaster RTE reported the infant may have been thrown or handed out of the car window as it sank.

"A baby girl was rescued from the car. The baby is currently in a stable condition," the police said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Irish coastguard at their nearby base in Malin Head said the infant "was rescued from the car and taken to the hospital".

"We retrieved five other members from the car," he added.

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Martin McGuinness, deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, posted on Twitter: "Very sad news of fatalities in an incident at Buncrana Pier tonight. Thoughts are with relatives of those involved and rescue services."

Police said the cause of the accident was not yet clear but that an investigation is under way.