‘Beautiful and much-loved’ mum and daughter, 6, killed in car crash named

A nurse and her daughter who died in a car crash in Co Donegal have been named locally.

Six-year-old Ella McLaughlin died at the scene of the crash, which involved a car and a van on the R240 at Glentogher, Carndonagh, on Wednesday.

Her mum, Natalie, and her dad and little sister were taken to a hospital across the border in Derry, Northern Ireland.

But Natalie, a nurse in her 20s, died yesterday afternoon.

Ella’s father, Tyrone Irwin, and little sister Rhea Rose both remain in the hospital.

Tributes have described the mother and daughter as ‘beautiful’.

An obituary for them reads: ‘Much loved mother and sister of Rhea-Rose and cherished daughter and granddaughter of Joanne and Danny and adored sister and niece of Lara, Tiarnan and Ryan.

‘Deeply regretted and sadly missed by their grandparents and great grandparents, Lynn and Anthony Noone and Margaret and Hugh McLaughlin, Natalie’s partner Tyrone, nieces and nephews, wider family circle, friends and neighbours.

‘May Ella and Natalie Rest In Eternal Peace.’

St Patrick’s Girls National School, which Natalie and Ella both attended, called their deaths an ‘unimaginable tragedy’.

The school said: ‘We are heartbroken, and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Ella and Natalie’s family – including Ella’s baby sister, Natalie’s partner, parents and siblings – and their many friends.

‘Ella was a joyful and much-loved pupil in our school.’

Mark Durkan, the Social Democratic and Labour Party leader for Foyle, saidNatalie was ‘well known and respected in the area’.

Parish Priest Fr Con McLaughlin said Natalie and Ella’s deaths have shaken the local community.

He told UTV: ‘When it comes to children dying, it touches our heartstrings, but to think of a family wiped out like that is something we just can’t begin to comprehend.’

Gardai have asked anyone with dashcam footage or information to come forward.

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