Gardaí intervene as crowds film Cork drowning tragedy on phones and livestream footage

As a man drowned in Cork’s River Lee, onlookers filmed and livestreamed the tragedy, forcing gardaí to intervene

The alarm was raised at around 7pm on Wednesday after two men went swimming in the northern channel of the River Lee at Pope’s Quay. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Gardaí had to push people back and increase the cordon around first responders as dozens of onlookers gathered to watch and film, some livestreaming, as a man drowned in Cork city centre.

A senior fire officer has pleaded with people not to publish or share the distressing video footage taken as the tragedy unfolded. 

“This man was clearly in difficulty in the water but we saw no signs of lifebuoys in the water when we arrived at the scene minutes after the alarm was raised," said second officer with Cork City Fire Brigade Victor Shine.

Some footage was live-streamed but Mr Shine spoke out on Thursday after it emerged that the actual drowning and the recovery of the man’s remains had also been recorded by some onlookers.

Mr Shine, who has been a firefighter for 44 years, said: “People today tend to video rather than render aid. But this was another level.

“I would have expected to see lifebuoys in the water and there are some in the area, but I didn’t see any in the water and I’m not sure if anyone attempted to throw a lifebuoy.

“I would appeal to people not to share these clips and to consider the impact it might have on the man’s family or friends if they saw it.” 

The man who died has since been named locally as Luke Hyde.

The alarm was raised at around 7pm on Wednesday after two men went swimming in the northern channel of the River Lee at Pope’s Quay.

But both got into difficulty. One managed to get out and raise the alarm but his friend sank and was carried downstream.

The man who died has been named locally as Luke Hyde.

Emergency services including firefighters, gardaí, paramedics, Crosshaven RNLI and a coast guard helicopter, were tasked.

Firefighters and paramedics were on the scene quickly and treated the survivor at the scene and began searching for his friend.

Members of Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery arrived later and using side scan sonar and divers, they found and recovered the man's body.

As the tragedy was unfolding, a large crowd gathered on Pope’s Quay, Lavitt’s Quay, and on the Shandon pedestrian bridge near the Coal Quay, with some recording, others live-streaming, with more watching and photographing from apartment block windows and a nearby multi-storey car parks.

Mr Shine said emergency services have been dealing with the rubber-necking phenomenal for many years, and park their vehicles to afford some level of privacy to casualties. They can also erect privacy screens.

But he said the intrusion from onlookers during this incident was another level, with many people recording, some live-streaming, and even some encroaching onto the 'operational scene', with gardaí having to push the cordon back.

Mr Shine urged people who come upon such scenes to first consider how they could help, then consider the right to privacy of the individuals involved, and to respect the dignity of a deceased person.

“You have to realise that their families or friends might see these clips and images. And in this case, the survivor might see them and he’s going to be reliving this awful moment for the rest of his life," he said.

“It’s just uncontrollable at the moment. We sometimes use CCTV cameras to help identify what happened in an incident, but there are strict controls on how that footage is controlled and used. There are no controls on someone with a phone.”