A 12-year-old boy has died after the car he was travelling in was struck by a train at a level crossing in Kiltybo, near Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, on Thursday evening. The driver, a man in his late 40s, was taken to hospital with injuries not thought to be life-threatening, while passengers on the train disembarked safely. The tragedy has prompted a full investigation by Irish police and rail safety officials, and comes amid wider concern after a second, separate level crossing incident on the same rail line earlier that day.

The collision occurred shortly after 8.45pm, and the boy was pronounced dead at the scene; his body was taken to Mayo University Hospital for a post-mortem, with Gardaí appealing for witnesses. It was the second disruption on the Westport to Dublin line that day, after a train hit a tractor at a crossing near Portarlington around 3.50pm, injuring a man in his 40s. The Westport–Athlone line remains closed "until further notice", with replacement bus services running, while Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien called the boy's death an "absolute tragedy" and said it was extremely rare for two such incidents to occur on one line in a single day.