The father of a teenage girl that was involved in a fatal car crash en route to her prom held her in his arms as she died.
Kiea McCann, 17, and Dlava Mohamed, 16, tragically passed away on Monday (July 31) evening after their car hit a tree on the N54 road in County Monaghan, near the Irish border, as reported by BBC.
The young girls from Largy College were traveling to their school's Debs party, which is a "prom" for final-year secondary school students. As they made their way to a nearby hotel where the event was being held, their vehicle slid off the road at about 18:45PM.
According to Irish Mirror, Kiea's father Frankie cradled her in his arms before she tragically passed away. The outlet shared that he arrived at the devastating scene not long after the impact, and held her before emergency services arrived.
Before the fatal incident, Kiea's parents said their daughter and her pals had held a party at their home to celebrate the major milestone. Unfortunately, a day of happiness turned into great sorrow.
Largy College's principal Sharon Magennis shared a tribute statement about the "two beautiful girls," saying that their deaths are a massive loss to the school and wider community.
"Words cannot describe how our school and the community of Clones is feeling at this time," she told Irish broadcaster RTÉ, as cited by BBC.
Magennis revealed that Dlava arrived in Ireland in 2018 under the Syrian resettlement program and initially lived in County Kildare for a few months before moving to Clones. She soon joined Largy College and became "best friends" with Kiea who was a year older than her.
"Dlava was always smiling. She was a gorgeous soul - loyal and bubbly and she was always very happy in or around the school," she said. "She radiated goodness and she was just full of energy."
The principal remembered Kiea as a lovely and generous student, adding: "She had a great love of children and she hoped to go on to study childcare at the third level and now that is a dream that will just not be realized."
The heartbroken families were greeted by family and friends at their homes. A large crowd of mourners gathered outside Dlava's family home to comfort her mother, while her father traveled from Germany to be with his loved ones, per The Mirror.
Meanwhile, Kiea’s sister Shaunice shared in a heartbreaking social media post that she couldn’t find the words to describe the horror of her loss.
An 18-year-old woman - who is believed to be Dlava's sister - and a 60-year-old driver were also in the car and are critically injured. In addition to this, an 18-year-old man who was present in the vehicle was treated in the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Kiea's remains arrived in Clones on Wednesday and her funeral is due to take place on Thursday (August 3) afternoon at Sacred Heart Chapel. She will then be laid to rest at Mount St Oliver's Cemetery.
Dlava's coffin will travel from the Diamond in Clones on Thursday (August 3) morning to Clonskeagh Mosque and Islamic Culture Centre in Dublin, where her funeral will take place. She will then be laid to rest in Newcastle Muslim Cemetery in Dublin.
Our thoughts are with Kiea and Dlava's family and friends during this heartbreaking time.
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