Survivors tell of how friends drowned in car tragedy
The two men yesterday recalled at an inquest yesterday the moment the overturned car filled with water after the accident on the grounds of Dunboy Castle, outside Castletownbere in west Cork, earlier this year.
Cillian O’Sullivan and Greg Harrington were in the back seat of the Ford Fiesta, which landed on its roof in the water at about 1am on March 1.
They were in the coroner’s court in Bantry yesterday as the inquest into the deaths of their friends — driver Shane Kelly, 20, from Cluin, Allihies, front-seat passenger, Colum Harrington, 21, from Allihies, and back seat passenger Fintan O’Driscoll, 17, from Foildarrig, Castletownbere — was opened.
Cillian told acting coroner for west Cork, Frank O’Connell, that he went for a spin on the castle grounds in Shane’s car, with Colum and Fintan, at about 11.30pm.
He said Shane had been doing handbrake skids in the grounds and they had to ring Greg for a tow after the car became stuck.
Greg said his friends had freed the car by the time he arrived and he jumped into the back seat with Fintan and Cillian before Shane did one or two more skids.
Cillian said as they drove out of the estate, he looked up to see the car skidding to the right onto the grass. “It was going so slow I felt I could get out,” he said.
“As it went towards the edge, we were all screaming. The car rocked on the edge and then fell in.”
The car fell over the edge onto its bumper, then toppled forward to land on its roof in several feet of water.
“The car filled with water immediately. I was feeling around and found a window two or three inches open. I had to shake it three times to break it. I just needed air. I came out through the broken window and came up.”
He said he dived back down again and found Greg coming out of the car and went down again but could not find the broken window in the darkness.
Greg described his experience after the car fell over: “I opened the back window and the car filled up with water. The sunroof was open a bit too. I could barely see the others. I tried to break the window. I saw Cillian pull at the window and then saw someone swim by me. I tried to open my seatbelt then moved out the window before I realised that Cillian had got out. He caught me and pulled me out and said: c’mon, c’mon.”
Drenched and in shock, they drove in Greg’s jeep back to Skippers Bar in Castletownbere and raised the alarm. Sean O’Sullivan, Conor Twomey and Fergus Lowney rushed to the scene.
Mr O’Sullivan and Mr Twomey had to cut the seatbelts from Shane Kelly and Colum Harrington to free their bodies. Fintan’s body was found in the rear seat. All were pronounced dead at the scene.
Assistant State pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said all three had died from acute cardio-respiratory failure due to drowning. None had alcohol or drugs in their systems.
Forensic collision investigator Garda Mark O’Connor told the inquest there was no evidence to explain why the car lost control and left the road. He said he found no handbrake skid marks at the site of the accident.
However, one tell-tale skid mark showed a sudden turn to the right at the point where the car apparently lost control.
It led to four skid marks, 35-metres long, which showed the car had “yawed” at an angle, going at no more than 22 miles per hour, across the road and grass towards the water, he said.
Public Service Vehicle inspector Sergeant Denis O’Shea said the car was roadworthy before the accident, with brakes, steering and tyres all in working order but solicitor Michael Quinlan, representing the Kelly and O’Driscoll families, told the inquest that his clients are awaiting the results of independent tests on the vehicle and that an expert witness may yet be called.
The coroner agreed to adjourn the inquest until December 1 to await the outcome of those tests.
He will then direct the jury of five men and one woman to return a verdict.
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