Seven people have been injured - two critically - after a priest fell ill in his car and drove into them outside a Dublin church.

The incident, which police are treating as an accident, happened outside the Immaculate Conception Church in Clondalkin Village, west Dublin.

Hundreds of mourners were gathered for a funeral and the priest was to speak at the ceremony.

Image: The accident happened outside of a church. Pic: TheJournal.ie

Four people were taken to hospital, including two who are critically injured. The priest is among those hurt. A total of 13 people received medical treatment at the scene of the crash, emergency services reported.

Pictures and video from the scene showed a badly damaged white car, with its bonnet partially crumpled and the front windscreen smashed.


The service was postponed until 1pm following the accident, which happened at around 10.20am.

Image: Emergency service vehicles are on the scene. Pic: Robin Schiller/Independent.ie

One witness told thejournal.ie: "There were people trapped under the car, and just from listening to people they said it was (the driver who had)... a heart attack and crashed into people."

"It’s really shocking, to see the people trapped and the injuries involved, it really was shocking," he said.

A number of emergency vehicles were at the scene, including the fire service and ambulances.

The Dublin Fire Brigade wrote on Twitter that four fire engines, one rescue tender, one district officer, four ambulances and an advanced paramedic vehicle attended.