Coastguard discover two bodies in search for missing pensioner

Two bodies have been recovered from Killybegs Harbour this afternoon, one of a 50-year-old fisherman and another of an elderly man who earlier went missing from a local hospital.

Killybegs lifeboat and a Coastguard helicopter joined the search, along with coast rescuers, for the missing hospital patient.

The fisherman’s body was taken from the water by the Killybegs Coastguard Unit, although he was not reported missing, when Gardaí launched a search for the missing hospital patient.

The first body taken from the water beside a slipway near the Garda station was of 50-year-old man from Malinbeg, Glencolmcille, who was last sighted on Wednesday.

Gardaí said they were investigating whether the first body fell from a trawler or the pier, adding that at this stage they are treating it as a drowning.

The discovery was made during a search for another person, an 87-year-old suffering from dementia who went missing from Killybegs Community Hospital about noon today.

His body was recovered by divers from the water shortly after 4.30pm about 100 metres from where the first body was recovered.

Both bodies were taken to Letterkenny General Hospital for post mortem examinations.