Body of teenager to be flown home from Crete

THE body of a teenager who died unexpectedly while on holiday in Crete is expected to be flown back to Ireland later this week.

Arrangements are also being made to fly the body of a toddler who drowned in a swimming pool in France back to the North.

Police on the Mediterranean island have ruled out foul play in the death of 17-year-old Kevin Sheehan, who is believed to have collapsed while walking back to the hotel he was staying in with friends.

Mr Sheehan, from Parklands, near the Commons Road, Cork, had been holidaying on the island with a group of friends who had planned to return to Cork yesterday. It was his first holiday abroad with friends.

The teenager’s body was found by two Dutch tourists on a shortcut to his hotel at the resort of Hersonnisos.

A post mortem was carried out on the young man’s body yesterday. While the results have not been released, it is understood police do not suspect foul play was involved. None of his belongings had been interfered with and no possessions had been stolen.

Mr Sheehan died early last Sunday morning and his heartbroken parents, Tony and Winnie, were informed of the tragedy a few hours later.

As their son’s passport was found with him, the authorities in Crete didn’t require them to travel to the island to identify his body.

A spokeswoman with the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed a young Irishman had died in Crete.

“The Irish embassy in Athens and the consulate office in Crete are offering the dead man’s family every possible assistance,” the spokeswoman said.

It is expected that the 17-year-old’s body will be flown back to Ireland within the next 48 hours. No funeral arrangements are available yet. Mr O’Sullivan is also survived by his sisters Elaine and Gillian and brother Paul.

Meanwhile, the parents of a three-year-old boy from Ballymoney, Co Antrim, who drowned on the last day of the family’s holiday in France, are making arrangements today to fly his body home.

Toddler Edward McConaghie drowned after finding his way into the swimming pool in the family’s holiday villa as his parents packed their car just ahead of departure home.

Attempts were made by emergency services to resuscitate the boy around midnight on Sunday in Cherval in the Dordogne, 80 miles north east of Bordeaux.

The British Embassy in France released basic details of the tragedy, but it is not known who discovered the boy in the swimming pool.

The boy is the second child to drown in the Dordogne area this year. Local tourism promoters have been involved in a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of leaving children unattended near pools.