Inquest into woman’s death in Donegal hears of ‘fault’ in bus locking system

An inquest into the death of a young teacher who died when she fell from a moving coach's emergency exit has heard that there was an "intermittent fault" with the door's locking mechanism. 

Amanda Kinsella was 27 years old when she was struck by a vehicle after falling from the moving coach at Ardnawark, Barnesmore Gap, outside Donegal Town at around 3.45pm, on August 13, 2021.

The 27-year-old, who worked in the Middle East, was back home in Ireland celebrating a wedding when tragedy struck.  

The Irish Mirror reported that she suffered multiple traumatic injuries after being struck by a vehicle while falling from the moving coach. An inquest held into her death heard there was an 'intermittent fault' with the door’s locking system, which could not have been detected by inspection or by the driver.

Ms Kinsella, from Bennekerry in Carlow, was home on a summer break from working in Bahrain and was part of a wedding party celebrating the second day of a wedding. She was travelling on the private coach along with wedding guests to Strabane to continue the wedding celebrations.

Ms Kinsella - who was well-known in GAA circles and played football for Irish clubs in Bahrain, where she lived - was moving towards the rear of the coach when she lost her balance as the coach drove around a bend.

The inquest heard the coach driver had completed all the regular daily checks, including checking the two emergency doors and found "no faults or alarms on the dash and no defects," before driving the coach.

The driver of the van said in his deposition that he was driving in the opposite direction of the coach and "a girl had fallen from the bus and hit the front of my van in a matter of seconds." He said he immediately stopped, called an ambulance and saw other people running towards Amanda.

Garda Damien Mulkearns, Public Service Vehicle Inspector, gave evidence of inspecting the door Amanda fell through and when he pushed his shoulder against it, the door remained closed.

He opened the door by hand and it opened correctly. He said when he pushed his shoulder against the door a second time, it opened."There appeared to be an intermittent fault with the lock but the bus driver would not have been aware," said garda Mulkearns. "The door functioned normally, but 10-20 per cent of the time it didn’t," he said when he tested it.“He explained that in order to open the door by hand, there is a N-shaped bracket that requires three fingers to be inserted into it in order to open the door.

On inspecting the locking mechanism that was in a sealed component, he said there was internal wear and tear and that it is a non-serviceable part."The wear and tear couldn’t be detected by inspection or by the driver," he said. "This is something you would rarely see.

"My professional opinion is that Amanda fell against the door and it opened and that she had no interaction with the handle."

Alan Deering, Forensic Engineer, instructed by the Health & Safety Authority, said he also inspected the lock mechanism and "a false lock" occurred one to two times out of 10, when the hooks on the lock didn’t fully engage.

He also found wear and tear on the internal components to be "not alarmingly significant," and "it could not have been seen by the driver or on inspection."Returning a verdict of accidental death at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Thursday, the jury made a recommendation that the service life around locking mechanisms be reviewed and mandatory replacement after a specified number of years.

After the jury returned its verdict, Coroner Dr Crona Gallagher said she will bring the recommendation to the relevant authorities. Dr Gallagher offered her sympathies to Ms Kinsella’s family, who were in attendance. "It is extremely tragic. It was an appalling tragedy and I am very sorry for your loss."

Sergeant Stephen Lynch of Donegal Town Garda Station also offered sympathy to Ms Kinsella’s family."On behalf of An Garda Síochána, I would like to convey our sympathies on your sad loss. It’s a tragic loss and no words can explain."