The close knit community of Bunmahon was in mourning this week, following the tragic death of a young father in a horrific accident.
Gardai say they have ruled out foul play in their investigation into the discovery of Declan Power’s body at a waste sorting facility near Listowel in Co Kerry last Friday evening. It is thought the 32-year-old was crushed to death in a refuse lorry after he climbed into a wheelie bin to get some sleep in the early hours of that morning.
Mr Power, of Osbourne Terrace, Bunmahon, was in Listowel for a fishing trip but ended up at the annual Harvest Horse Racing Festival, which took place in the town throughout the week. It’s thought he may have climbed into the catering-sized wheelie bin to sleep, after he and another man left a B&B where they were sharing a room with two others who had booked the accommodation. CCTV footage has shown Mr Power climbing into the recycling wheelie bin at around 3.30am. The bin was collected about an hour later by a truck.
Mr Power’s body was discovered by shocked workers at the South West Bins on Wheels waste sorting facility, at Kilmorna, when the bin was unloaded between 4 and 5pm on Friday. Gardai were immediately alerted and the body was brought to Kerry General Hospital, where assistant state pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster carried out a post mortem on Saturday. The Kerry ‘scene of crime’ investigation team carried out a full forensic examination of the facility and gardai have since confirmed that they’re treating the death as a tragic accident.
See The Munster Express newspaper for full story.
