Gardaí trace kilometre-long trail of blood after finding injured man on busy Cork road

The man was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital (CUH) where he is being treated for an upper leg injury. Photo: Dan Linehan

Gardaí in Cork found a trail of blood almost a kilometre long after a man was found with unexplained injuries on a busy road this morning.

They have ruled out a hit-and-run incident but they are still trying to establish how the man sustained the injuries before he was found collapsed on Carr’s Hill, on the city’s southside, at around 4am this morning.

The man, who is in his late 30s and originally from Eastern Europe, has been living in Cork city for some time but he has no known connections to the Maryborough area of the city close to where he was found in the early hours of this morning.

The alarm was raised at around 4am when the man was found collapsed on the city-bound lane of the N28 on Carr’s Hill. He was treated at the scene by paramedics from the HSE’s National Ambulance Service.

The man was intoxicated and was unable to explain what had happened or how he has come to be injured. He was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital (CUH) where he is being treated for an upper leg injury.

Because of the nature of the injuries and the inability of the man to explain what had happened, gardaí sealed off the scene for a full forensic and technical examination. They quickly ruled out the possibility of a hit-and-run but they were still not satisfied at that stage to rule out any criminal involvement.

Gardaí retraced the man’s possible movements and found fresh blood stains on the slip road leading onto Carr’s Hill from Maryborough Hill.

They worked their way along the Maryborough Hill N28 overpass and up along Maryborough Hill and identified more fresh bloodstains at various locations along the way. They believe they have traced the man’s movements as far as the Broadale housing estate - about a kilometre from where he was found.

Scenes of crime investigators have inspected all of the areas where bloodstains were found.

Gardaí have this morning called to a number of premises and businesses in the area in a bid to establish the man’s last known movements and to try and figure out what happened.

Supt John Deasy said detectives are waiting for medical clearance to interview the injured man in the hope that he will be able to shed light on what happened.

In the meantime, he appealed for anyone who may have seen the man in the Broadale, Maryborough Hill or Carr’s Hill areas between 2am and 4am this morning, or who may have been in the man’s company and who can explain what happened, to contact either Douglas or Togher garda stations.