Six-year-old boy tried to save his friend from the river

A six-year-old boy tried to save his friend when he fell into a fast-flowing river, an inquest heard.

James Casey-Butler, also 6, died having suffered prolonged oxygen deprivation despite the attempts of bystanders to rescue him after he fell into the Owenacurra River near his home at Tir Cluain, Midleton, Co Cork on March 23, last year.

He died the following day having been airlifted to Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin.