The body of a 23-year-old Co Mayo man who drowned in Laos, southeast Asia, last week is expected to be repatriated in the next few days.
Sources yesterday indicated that the remains of Gary Price of Cullane, Swinford, should be home by next Tuesday, which would have been his 24th birthday.
Mr Price had been working in Melbourne since last year.
He was making his way home with two friends from Co Mayo, Shane Hynes from Castlebar and Kieran Lynskey from Swinford, when he drowned on Sunday while on a backpacking trip in Laos.
One of Mr Price’s brothers, Kevin, is currently in Laos with Mr Hynes and Mr Lynskey.
Colm Hynes, Shane Hynes’s father, is also in Laos liaising with authorities.
According to the parish priest of Swinford, Fr Dermot Meehan, the Irish Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, has been extremely helpful to the representatives of the Price family in organising the documentation necessary for the release of the remains.
“It’s a terrible tragedy, not only for the Price family but for the entire Swinford community,” said Fr Meehan.
Mr Price was known locally in Mayo as a dedicated student at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.
He was also a talented sportsman who excelled at both soccer and Gaelic football.
He is survived by his parents Gerry and Margaret, brother Kevin, and sisters Deirdre and Aisling.
TOM SHIEL