GARDAÍ WERE yesterday trying to piece together what happened to a woman whose body was recovered from the Grand Canal in Co Laois on Saturday evening.
The body of a woman in her 30s was found in the canal between Vicarstown and Athy at about 7pm. A man in his 40s was also taken from the water and was brought to the Midlands Regional Hospital, Portlaoise, where his condition was described as stable.
It is understood the car in which the woman had been travelling with the man and their four children had broken down close to the canal shortly before she died.
It is believed someone had helped the couple to push their car to the side of the road and that the couple then walked away from the car to look for further assistance.
The children were reported to be safe and well yesterday and were being looked after by relatives.
Locals in Vicarstown yesterday expressed shock and bewilderment over the incident, which happened at a stretch of canal about a mile from the rural hamlet.
In Crean's pub, customers discussed the overnight influx of Garda cars and the morning arrival of a hearse, all of which disappeared down the narrow canalside route, little wider than a tow-path, which is a public road linking Vicarstown with the larger town of Athy across the Kildare border.
The Crean family and staff in their pub had spent much of Saturday night bringing coffee to gardaí who sealed off the canalside road. A barmaid said the situation had developed at about 7pm as she was on her way to work.
"I saw a Garda car pass me as I walked from my house, then another and another and another," she said.
She added that the woman who had died and the people involved were not locals, although she thought one of the adults may have been from Athy.
On the bridge a woman looked down the canal road to where a garda was visible beside a red car, guarding the plastic tape. "I heard the car ran out of petrol and they were attempting to push it. It is a dangerous road."
Gardaí said they were investigating all circumstances leading to the woman's death and appealed to anyone who was in the area on Saturday evening to contact them at Portlaoise station on (057) 867 4100. In particular, they want to speak to the driver of a dark SUV who stopped and gave assistance at the scene of the incident.
The woman's body was removed to Tullamore General Hospital, where a postmortem was carried out.