Hospice worker dies in flooded basement

A FILIPINO woman died when her basement flat was submerged in up to 3m of water.

The body of Celia De Jesus, from Quezon City in the Philippines, was discovered yesterday when emergency services pumped water out of the basement of the house on Parnell Road near Harold’s Cross in Dublin.

Fire and emergency staff had been called to the scene at about 11pm on Monday as many buildings in the Harold’s Cross area were deluged with water from the nearby Grand Canal following hours of torrential rain across the capital.

The Filipino embassy said it understood that the body was that of Ms De Jesus, who was in her mid-30s. Ms De Jesus, who was married and a mother, may have been due to travel back to the Philippines when tragedy struck.

It is understood she had been living in Ireland for seven years and had been working as a care assistant at the nearby Our Lady’s Hospice.

Staff at the hospice were being comforted last night following Ms De Jesus’s death.

A spokesman for the facility said “management was working closely with gardaí to establish facts, while respecting the privacy and confidentiality of the family”.

It is understood some people living in nearby houses had heard banging late on Monday and had called the emergency services.

One theory is that the water entered the basement flat with such speed that Ms De Jesus was unable to escape in time.

Yesterday, at the house, window panes on the ground floor were broken and rubbish bins in the area in front of the mid-terrace house were piled on top of each other.

Dublin Fire Brigade confirmed that the basement flat was “completely submerged” and that fire staff from the nearby Dolphin’s Barn station had already been working in the area when they attended the scene.

One woman was seen crying on the street and being comforted by a passer-by. Many neighbours did not wish to be interviewed.

The basement in their own house had been completely ruined, with one young woman stating that the fridge in the basement kitchen had been turned over and dumped in the middle of the floor by the force of the water.

Just around the corner in Harold’s Cross, the Boyne Court apartment complex had to be evacuated, with 12 residents taken to safety yesterday morning.

Gardaí have said that Ms De Jesus’s death is not being treated as suspicious. Her body has been taken to St James’s Hospital for a postmortem examination.