Gardai in Athlone are appealing for witnesses to a crash this morning that claimed the life of a man in his seventies.

The pedestrian died after he was struck by a car on the M6 at Monksland close to the town just after 6am.

The eastbound section of the M6 remains closed between Junctions 14 and 12.

Motorists travelling east are being advised to divert onto the old N6 between Ballinasloe and Athlone.