INSPECTORS FROM the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) have examined the scene of an accident at a grain plant in Co Louth which took the lives of two local men.
A postmortem was carried out yesterday on the body of 35-year- old Paul Farrell, a married father of three from nearby Tallanstown who died in the early hours of the morning.
He had been in intensive care in hospital in Dundalk following the accident on Monday morning which first claimed the life of 19-year-old Terry Brennan.
Both men were found in what gardaí described as a “collapsed state” when ambulance crews and the fire service arrived at Drummonds grain feed plant in Knockbridge, Dundalk.
It is unclear what happened but it is believed that both men may have gone into one of the grain pits at about 9am on Monday to spray the grain but were overcome by a build-up of gas.
Whether the men were overcome shortly after they went into the pit or after they sprayed the grain is not known. Two of their colleagues ran to their aid and one of them, David Reilly, had received intensive care hospital treatment until his release from the Louth County Hospital yesterday, the HSE confirmed.
Local workers on a Fás Community Employment Scheme also gave assistance before the ambulance arrived with the emergency medical technicians.
Despite their efforts, Mr Brennan was pronounced dead on arrival at Louth County Hospital.
He was the eldest of five children and his siblings Tony, Niall, Sarah and Grace as well as his parents John and Frances were being comforted by family and friends.
Terry was a member of St Brides GAA club and yesterday Colm Marry from the club said, “There is a numbness around Knockbridge, it is so hard for our own people and parishioners to take. Terry was on the panel on the minor team that got to the minor final. He was a lovely kid, very jolly and with a smile always on his face.”
The community received a double blow with the death of Paul Farrell. He lived just metres from the grain plant and spent all of his working life there. His wife Frances and their three children were trying to come to terms with their loss yesterday.
He had been in intensive care since the accident.
Gardaí and the HSA say it is too early to give the cause of the accident and their deaths.
“As with all such accidents where there is a fatality at a place of work there is now a joint investigation under way by the gardaí and the HSA. It is ongoing and the HSA is carrying out an examination of the scene by their technical experts,” Garda Supt Ray Brennan, Ardee said.
Meanwhile, the community of Knockbridge is expected to turn out in numbers this morning for the funeral of Terry Brennan.
As well as thoroughly examining the location of the accident the HSA investigation team will interview the people who went to help Mr Brennan and Mr Farrell, as well as speaking with management at the grain plant.
They will take statements from them and these will form part of their investigation file.