Man dies following crash on A1 dual carriageway

The incident occurred at the junction of Gowdystown Road, between Dromore and Banbridge, shortly before 6:30pm on Sunday.

The man killed in the crash was the driver of a VW Passat car.

A man and woman in the other vehicle, a Volvo XC60, were taken to hospital with non life threatening injuries.

The road was closed for several hours while emergency services crews attended the scene, but it has since reopened.

Police officers investigating the incident have appealed for witnesses to contact them on 101 quoting reference 966 of March 31.

They are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have dash cam or mobile phone footage of the collision.

Expressing his shock and sadness at yet another fatal crash on the busy road, local DUP councillor Paul Rankin said: “My deepest sympathies and prayers are with the family of victim of the most recent A1 crash.”

Referring to planned safety improvements on the route, he added: “I understand that the Department for Infrastructure has to go through due process such as public consultation, which is ongoing at present, but it is regrettable that the process has taken so long thus far.

“The overwhelming majority of people I speak to want to see the A1 central reservation closed up as soon as possible and this would I believe increase safety along the A1 immeasurably.”

DUP MLA Carla Lockhart commented: “My sympathies are with the family of the deceased, and my thoughts and prayers will be with them over the coming days.

“This is yet another fatality on this stretch of road and it again reiterates the need for urgent measures to be put in place to try to improve safety for road users.

“I will be speaking to the department to ensure they are working towards this as quickly as possible.”