A boy (14) was drowned while swimming in the river Blackwater at Fermoy, Co Cork, yesterday evening.
The boy, named locally as Martin Duggan from Emmet Street, Fermoy, had joined a number of other boys who went swimming in the river upstream of the centre of town at Barnane near Fermoy Rowing Club at about 5.30pm yesterday.
It is understood the boy got into difficulty in part of the river not usually known as a swimming spot and was spotted by the other boys going under water. They raised the alarm, and gardaí, civil defence personnel and more than 50 locals joining the search.
Just before 8pm, members of the Blackwater search and rescue unit found the body close to where he had been seen going under.