Police have confirmed the identities of three teenagers who died in a car crash on the outskirts of Dumfries on Wednesday morning.
The 16-year-olds, who were travelling on the A711 in a Honda Civic and pronounced dead at the scene, have been named by police as Finlay Johns, Ian Cannon and Tyler Johnston who are all from the Moffat area.
A fourth occupant of the car, named locally as 17-year-old Jake Loy, remains in a critical condition and three men travelling in a Honda CRV, aged 32, 51 and 54, were taken to Dumfries Infirmary and are described as being in a “serious but stable” condition. Two males were later transferred to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment.
The local community has been left in mourning following the crash which happened at around 12.20am on Wednesday on the Dumfries to Dalbeattie Road.
The road was closed for much of Wednesday as police carried out crash scene investigations.
The Upper Annandale community has been stunned by the tragedy.
Moffat and District Community Council is urging local residents to support one another.
A Facebook post said: “Many of us will be shocked and saddened by the news of the tragic motor accident early this week.
“It will have a terrible effect on the town. The community council’s deepest thoughts are with the family and friends of all of those involved. Please respect their privacy.
“As a community we must do our best to look after and offer support to our friends and neighbours who are having to come to terms with the most terrible news.”
St Andrew’s Parish Church opened its doors to allow those to pay their respects and to reflect.
Rev Elsie Macrae said: “At times like this, we are stunned by tragic loss.
“Children of parents, to whom our hearts go out to this day; children of our community, for whom we all grieve.
“Words alone cannot express our feelings of deep sadness, confusion and perhaps anger.
“As we come to terms with our loss we need to come together to support the families who have suffered loss, while also giving them the space and the privacy to grieve, but also to reach out in support of others directly affected; brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends, classmates, teachers and school staff and also one another.
“St Andrew’s Church is open from 10am-noon on Friday and 10am-4pm on Saturday for anyone who would like some quiet time or an opportunity to say prayers for those affected.”
Moffat Academy head teacher Tara Woods released a statement on behalf of the school.
It read: “It is a tragic day at Moffat Academy, where we have learned that one of our pupils has lost his life.
“It is with heavy hearts that our school community comes together to try and come to terms with this. Our young people and our staff are being supported at this very sad time.”
Chief Inspector Lorraine Napier, of Police Scotland’s Road Policing unit, said: “Our enquiries are continuing into the circumstances that led to this fatal crash and we recognise how the local community is feeling in the aftermath of this awful incident.
“We have deployed specialist family liaison officers to support the families and friends of those who died or were injured. It is understandably an extremely traumatic incident.
“I would continue to ask anyone who has any information that could assist us, to contact police via 101, quoting reference 0059 of Wednesday, 16 March 2022.”
