Garda and safety body investigate death of boy in farming accident

Both the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and Garda have begun separate investigations into the death of a 14-year-old boy in a farming accident at his home in west Cork.

Ciaran Casey from Collatrum, Church Cross, near Skibbereen, had been working on his own on part of the family farm when the accident happened.

It is believed that he was killed when he became trapped between a digger and a wall while bringing cows into a shed sometime before 6pm on Wednesday.

The boy was discovered by his father, Stephen, who raised the alarm. Paramedics attended at the scene but Ciaran was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was removed to Cork University Hospital where a postmortem was carried out to establish the cause of his death.

A second-year student at Rossa College in Skibbereen, Ciaran is survived by his parents, Stephen and Norma, and three siblings.

HSA inspectors visited the farm yesterday and began their investigation into the death, which was the first fatal farm accident of 2013.