Body recovered from car found in River Lee, Co Cork

The body of a man has been recovered from a car found in the River Lee in Cork on Friday morning.

The car was discovered during a routine search operation by a local search and rescue operation. The man has as yet to be identified. It is thought the car may have been in the water for several days.

The vehicle was recovered via the use of a sonar device.

The finding of the body coincided with the search operation which was launched on Friday morning after a silver Nissan car was seen entering the River Lee.

The Nissan car has been taken to the Port of Cork for a thorough examination.

Gardaí have confirmed that the silver Nissan car is not connected to any official missing persons investigations underway in the city.

The alarm was raised at 5.50am when a passer-by saw the car enter the River Lee at the Lee Rowing Club. HSE ambulances, three units of Cork City Fire Brigade, Mallow Search and Rescue, the RNLI and Valentia Coastguard responded immediately.

Naval divers from Haulbowline are currently searching the water for the occupant of the car.

The vehicle was snagged by an RNLI hook at 7.30am and a river hook pulled the car from the water shortly after 9am. It was found to be empty. It is not yet known whether there was anyone in the vehicle.

The area where the incident occurred is without barriers and is on a shipping channel.

Naval divers will continue to scour the river throughout the day.