Irish man killed in 11-car pileup in Australia

Francis Shanely from Co Leitrim died in the accident outside of Sydney

Irish man Francis Shanley has been named as the sole victim killed in an 11-car pileup that happened outside of Syndey, Australia on Thursday.

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Shanley, 36-years-old, is a native of Currycramp, Bornacoola, Co Leitrim and is understood to have been living in Australia for about ten years.

Local media report that the utility truck that Shanley was driving to work was struck by a truck carrying beer kegs at about 5:50 am on May 9.

Chief Inspector Adam Phillips from NSW Police described the scene of the crash that involved 11 cars as "fairly horrific."

Ambulance Inspector Andrew Wood told Sydney radio station 2GB that four teams of paramedics were deployed to the scene of the accident.

He said: “It was an extremely distressing scene for all emergency services on arrival.”

“There was debris and the accident was spread out over approximately 200 meters.”

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Shanley’s fiancee Broc Nicholson shared a heartbreaking public Facebook post about the death of Shanley:

“Fly high my beautiful angle i love you forever and always,” wrote Nicholson.

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Francis Shanley and Broc Nicholson (Facebook)

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Crash Investigation Unit Commander, Inspector Katie Orr, said in a press release on May 9 that police wanted to speak with the driver of the 11th vehicle to find out what they may have seen at the time of the crash.

"We want to speak with this driver to find what they know about the events leading up to the crash," Inspector Orr said.

"We also want to speak with any drivers who may have witnessed the crash and left the area or have relevant dash-cam footage."