Latvia’s ice hockey team was unable to lift itself out of the Olympic cellar, losing 5-2 to Kazakhstan on Feb. 21, and so its time in Turin, Italy, is done.

While Latvia shocked the United States with a 3-3 tie on Feb. 15 in the team’s first game of the 2006 Winter Olympics, it subsequently was trounced by Slovakia (6-3 on Feb. 16), Sweden (6-1 on Feb. 18) and Russia (9-2 on Feb. 19). Going into their last preliminary round game, Kazakhstan found itself in last place in Group B, while Latvia was second to last.

Twelve teams, split into two six-team groups, began the ice hockey competition. The four best teams in each group move on to the next level of play.

Kazakhstan scored the first goal 7 minutes and 20 seconds into the game, according to the official Web site of the Winter Olympics, www.torino2006.org. Alexandr Koreshkov, with an assist from his brother Yevgeniy, slipped the puck past Latvian goalkeeper Sergejs Naumovs.

Latvia’s Leonīds Tambijevs, assisted by Aleksandrs Ņiživijs, evened up the score on a power play 15:20 into the game.

Kazakstan’s Nikolay Antropov, with help from Yevgeniy Koreshkov, got his country’s second goal 15:04 into the second period, putting Latvia behind 1-2.

The Latvians tied up the game 5:04 into the third period, when Aigars Cipruss scored with assistance from Grigorijs Panteļejevs and Atvars Tribuncovs.

But from there on, the game turned sour for the Latvians.

Kazakhstan regained the upper hand 12:33 into the period off the stick of Sergey Alexandrov, who was helped by Fedor Polichshuk and Andrey Trochshinskiy. Two minutes and 20 seconds later, Kazakhstan added another point on a penalty shot by Yevgeniy Koreshkov, raising the score to 4-2.

Kazakhstan’s final goal, with just under two minutes left in the game, again was credited to the Koreshkov brothers, this time with Yevgeniy scoring and Alexandr assisting.

Final results show that Naumovs stopped 25 of Kazakhstan’s 30 shots on goal, while Kazakhstan’s goalkeeper Vitaliy Yeremeyev stopped 30 of Latvia’s 32 shots. Latvia racked up 12 minutes of penalties compared to Kazakhstan’s six.

Latvia ended up in last place in its group. A final overall ranking won’t be known until after Group A finishes its preliminary round games.

Authorities in Ireland have confirmed that four of five people killed in a two-vehicle traffic accident Feb. 18 were from Latvia.

Ivars Lasis, first secretary in the Latvian embassy in Dublin, told Radio Telefís Éireann that Latvian police have notified next of kin of the deaths. The victims include a 38-year-old woman, her 20-year-old daughter and a 23-year-old man, all from Liepāja. Also killed was a woman in her late twenties from Valka.

The fifth fatality was a 35-year-old man from Lithuania.

A sixth person, another man believed to be from Lithuania, was still being treated in Letterkenny General Hospital, RTÉ reported.

The four Latvians were traveling in a Volkswagen Vento when it collided with an Audi, occupied by the two Lithuanians, about 4:20 a.m. near Buncrana in the northwest of Ireland, according to the Sunday Independent. One of the vehicles caught fire after the accident, Highland Radio reported from Letterkenny.

The Latvians apparently were traveling in the direction of Buncrana after picking up the daughter from an airport. The accident occurred near Lisfannon, three miles south of Buncrana, where several fatal crashes have been reported in recent years.

The Audi had earlier been observed traveling erratically and had already been involved in a collision, the Telegraph reported, citing Irish police.

The County Donegal region is home to many Latvians and Lithuanians who have come to Ireland in search of work.

In June 2004, three men from Latvia died when their car was involved in an apparent one-vehicle accident, smashing into a bridge in County Donegal, near the border with Northern Ireland.

If he had been just a half-minute faster, Ilmārs Bricis might have won a bronze medal. Instead, the Latvian biathlon star had to settle for fourth place in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit event Feb. 18 during the Winter Olympics in Turin.

Bricis finished the course in 26.7 seconds behind behind gold medal winner Vincent Defrasne of France, whose time was 35 minutes, 20.2 seconds, according to the official Web site of the Winter Olympics, www.torino2006.org.

The silver medal went to Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway and the bronze to Sven Fischer of Germany.

Latvia’s Jānis Bērziņš finished 44th in the event, 5:02.6 behind the leader, while Raivis Zīmelis finished 48th, 5:37.8 behind the leader, and Kristaps Lībietis finished 56th, 8:31.0 behind.

In 2002 during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Bricis finished a disappointing 51st in the pursuit event.

Also on Feb. 18, Latvian biathlete Madara Līduma finished 20th in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit event. Her time was 4 minutes, 7.2 seconds behind gold medal winner Kati Wilhelm of Germany, who finished the course in 36:43.6. The silver medal went to Martina Glagow of Germany and Russia’s Albina Akhatova earned the bronze.

Anžela Brice of Latvia was lapped and knocked from the competition.