Man and teenager (15) drown in Co Down quarry

A man has drowned in a vain bid to rescue a teenage boy in a disused quarry in Northern Ireland.

Colin Polland is understood to have jumped into the water at the isolated quarry in rural Co Down in a bid to save Kevin O’Hare (15), who had got into difficulties when swimming in the quarry, but both died.

Mr O’Hare was from the Dromara area of Co Down. Mr Polland was originally from the North but had been living in England. It is understood he was back in the region on holiday.

The incident at Paul’s Quarry on the outskirts of the seaside village of Annalong happened late yesterday afternoon.

Emergency crews, including police divers, were involved in an evening-long operation to recover the bodies from the former granite quarry.

The tragedy is believed to have unfolded when the boy got into trouble while swimming in the deep waters of the steep-sided quarry and a friend ran to raise the alarm.

The man responded and jumped in in an attempt to rescue him.

The site near the Glassdrumman Road is popular with young people wanting to swim on hot days.

The wider Annalong area has been hit by a series of tragedies in recent years, including the deaths of three men in a light aircraft crash four years ago and the loss of three family members in the sinking of a fishing boat in 2002.

South Down Assembly member Jim Wells expressed his condolences.

“This area has suffered many tragedies over the last number of years and this is another dreadful event that will shock the entire community,” said the Democratic Unionist representative.

“I would hope there will be a full investigation to establish what happened — we need to improve safety in these sort of situations.”

Sinn Féin MLA Chris Hazzard also offered his condolences to the families of the two men.

He added: “There have been similar tragedies in Derry and Strabane over the past few years, and more needs to be done to improve safety at large bodies of water.”