Ireland - Missing boys, 10 and 5, found dead in car boot after crash which left their father injured

• Eoghan and Ruairi Chada were found dead near Westport, County Mayo
• They had disappeared with their father Sanjeev, 43, on Sunday evening
• Their bodies were found after Mr Chada crashed his car into a stone wall
• Mr Chada is said to have suffered 'non life threatening' injuries
• A post mortem examination is set to be carried out later today
• Detectives believe the children may have been dead before the crash

Tragic: The bodies of Eoghan Chada, 10 (right) and his brother Ruairi, five, (left) were found in the boot of their father Sanjeev Chada's (centre) car after he crashed into a wall in County Mayo, Ireland, yesterday


The bodies of two brothers were found dead in the boot of a car driven into a wall by their father a day after their disappearance sparked a nationwide search in Ireland.

Sanjeev Chada, 43, went missing with his two sons Eoghan, 10, and Ruairi, five, after leaving the family home in County Carlow in south east Ireland, on Sunday evening.

But police found the bodies of the two boys in the boot of Mr Chada's car following the crash around 300km away near Westport, County Mayo, yesterday.

Detectives believe that the boys were dead before the crash with a post mortem set to be carried out later today.


Mr Chada, known to friends as Sanj, was treated in hospital after the crash and is expected to be interviewed by detectives today.

Father Declan Foley, a priest who has been comforting the boys' mother Kathleen and the rest of the family described the moment the police broke the news of their deaths as 'like an earthquake had hit the house.'


Mr Chada, who is of Indian descent but said to have been brought up in the UK, and his children's disappearance had sparked a widespread search operation on Sunday evening with gardai issuing the country's first ever Child Rescue Ireland Alert.

The father and his two sons were last seen at around 6.30pm when he told wife Kathleen he was taking the children out and they left home to go to the Dome Bowling Centre in Carlow town centre.

But Mr Chada failed to return home with the children.

At the time the alert was issued, gardai said they had no knowledge of any breakdown in relations in the family and insisted that the couple were not estranged.

Detectives have appealed for anyone who may have seen the father of two in his green Ford Focus, registration number 06 CW 238, as it travelled across the country.



They urged workers in petrol stations, shops, B&Bs and hotels and motorists who may have seen the car between Sunday and Monday to come forward in a bid to identify the route it took.

Teams of officers in both Mayo and Carlow are working on the case.

The bodies were found after police responded to reports of a crash involving a single car yesterday.





Investigation: A post mortem examination into the deaths of Eoghan, 10, and Ruairi, five, (pictured left) is to be carried out today. The pair had disappeared with the father Sanjeev after he told wife Kathleen (right) that he was taking the children out






Police probe: Gardai stand guard at the family home where Mr Chada, Eoghan and Ruairi went missing from on Sunday

Two local men reportedly spoke to Mr Chada shortly after the crash happened.

One of them lent him a mobile phone to make a call.

Eoghan and Ruairi were described as extremely popular and 'two little sports fanatics' by neighbours.

They were members of their local junior hurling club, Ballinkillen in rural County Carlow, and had played at under-10 and under-six level.

Mrs Chada, a nurse, was originally from the area and lives near where her parents Willie and Patsy Murphy have a home.



Sanjeev Chada, 43, (right) was injured in the crash but police found the bodies of his two children Eoghan, ten (left) and Ruairi, five, (centre), in the car boot





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