Missing boy told father: ‘I’m being chased’

A major search operation was launched in Bantry, Co Cork, today for a teenager who made a distressed call to his father last night telling him he was in trouble.

Fears are growing for the safety of the 15 year old from Bantry after he made a phone call to his father, saying he was being chased at around 11.30pm last night.

He was at the Abbey graveyard on the outskirts of the town at the time.

His father went to the scene, but when he could not find his son, he raised the alarm and contacted gardaí.

The coastguard, gardaí and local boat owners and up to 100 volunteers have been searching on land and sea throughout the night.

A shoe which may have belonged to the teenager was found by the graveyard, situated along the sea wall. Gardaí have sealed this area off.

Scores of young friends and relatives have helped search the town and wooded hinterland throughout the night.

A search and rescue helicopter arrived from Shannon shortly after 8am to help with the efforts. A blanket of rain and mist covered the area this morning which reduced visibility.

Twelve members of the Goleen Coast Guard Unit set up a command centre at 2.30am to coordinate the search. Coastguard officer Dermot Sheehan said: “Every local that has a boat is out on the water. There have been people here all night and we expect that more will arrive as the day goes on.”

One local man, who did not want to be named, said: “Hopefully he will show up safe and sound, but we are all very worried.”

Article courtesy of The Evening Echo newspaper