Sligo man dies on building site in NY

A newlywed Sligo man based in Boston has died in a construction site accident in New York.

Gary Feeney, 24, who intended to return home to Ireland for a church wedding with his bride Kelly Melvin, died on Saturday when he was pinned under a 12m-long pipe weighing over 750kg in upstate New York.

He was pronounced dead in Saratoga Hospital shortly after the accident in the town of Ballston Spa.

New York State police based in Saratoga said Gary was helping unload the pipe from a flatbed tractor trailer on a construction site.

A police statement said: “State police members located the victim laying face down on the ground.”

The statement said the victim was identified as Gary T Feeney who lived in Dorchester, Massa-chusetts, and was employed by Feeney Brothers Corp, which was working as subcontractors on the US electricity national grid.

The company, which employs 700, is owned by Gary’s uncles Brendan, Greg, and Lorcan Feeney. Gary had recently started his own building operation.

The police said Mr Feeney was holding a guide rope while helping unload the 771kg pipe from the trailer, which was being lifted by an excavator with steel cables and hooks. The pipe fell, pinning him to the ground.

Investigations into the accident are continuing.

Gary emigrated less than three years ago from Templeboy, Co Sligo.

Members of Gary’s family have flown to Boston and it is expected he will be buried in Sligo at the weekend.

Separately, arrangements are being made to repatriate the body of 29-year-old Cork man, Colin Callanan, who died in a drowning accident on an island in the Gulf of Thailand at the weekend.

Initial reports suggested the tragedy was linked to a diving accident on Koh Tao, but Mr Callanan’s family has confirmed it took place in a swimming pool.

A spokesperson for the family said that, based on accounts of people who were there at the time, they were “totally satisfied that it was a tragic accident”.

The Callanans are from Innishannon in West Cork, but Colin had lived in Perth for the past six years.