Teenager feared dead after jet ski accident

The family of a teenager presumed dead after coming off a jet ski in a lake in the west of Ireland were tonight waiting on the shore for his body to be recovered.

The 19-year-old came off the jet ski at 5.30pm tonight in Lough Beltra, about 12 miles north-west of Castlebar, Co Mayo.

The teenager is from a family of three children, with one brother and one sister, in the small parish of Islandeady, on the shores of the lake.

Fr Pat Donnellan, the local priest, was tonight at the scene of the accident with the man’s parents.

“We are looking for a body at this stage,” he said.

A friend of the teenager who also came off the jet ski tried to save him but was unsuccessful.

The coastguard helicopter from Strandhill, Co Sligo, and a boat crew from Westport were involved in the rescue operation with sub-aqua divers, gardaí, an ambulance, the fire service and Civil Defence.

As light faded the emergency services were preparing to resume the operation at dawn.

In a separate incident, another teenager was taken to hospital after being rescued from Ireland’s highest mountain.

The 17-year-old from England was around 50 metres from the summit of Carrantuohill when he lost his footing and fell.

He was among a group of 10 climbing in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme.

Members of Kerry Mountain Rescue stretchered the teenager to safety before he was taken to Tralee General Hospital by ambulance.