A 19-year-old woman who was seriously injured when a sand dune collapsed on her in west Kerry yesterday, has died.
Niamh McCarthy from Ballygrissane, Minane Bridge in south Cork, was visiting the Maharees near Castlegregory on the Dingle Peninsula when a sand dune collapsed and she was buried under a mound of sand.
Gardaí have launched an investigation, which is still at a preliminary stage, but it’s understood Ms McCarthy could have been buried for at least 10-15 minutes before her friends and others were able to free her.
It is believed she was staying in a rented house with a group of other young people.
It is understood that a hole had been dug and young people had been jumping into the hole from the top of the dune when the dune suddenly collapsed.
The accident happened just before 3.30pm when sand from a 10m sand spur at the Maharees collapsed. Units of Kerry County Fire Service as well as medical personnel and gardaí attended at the scene.
Locals also assisted and Ms McCarthy was taken by HSE South ambulance to Kerry General Hospital some 20 miles away in Tralee.