Woman's body found in Bandon river

The body of a woman in her forties has been found in the Bandon river between Kilmacsimon and Ballinadee.

The woman, whose name has not yet been released but is not from the area, is set to undergo a post mortem at Cork University Hospital this morning to determine the cause of death, but it is not thought to be suspicious.

A major search and rescue operation was undertaken yesterday morning when the woman’s car was found abandoned on a stretch of road between Bandon and Innishannon.

Gardaí at Bandon, Kinsale and Youghal as well as members of the Kinsale Coast Guard, the West Cork Garda search team and members of the RNLI all coordinated the search which centred on a two-mile stretch of river between Innishannon back towards Bandon.

However, the search was later extended and upwards of 100 local volunteers joined in the search for the missing woman.

Poor conditions and a high tide hampered the operation but the dead woman was located at approximately 6.30pm yesterday before being airlifted to CUH.