A MAN who was cutting wood with his four-year-old son yesterday died after a piece of a tree he was chopping fell on him.
The man is believed to have been standing on a steep slope, chopping an already felled ash tree, when a large section of the tree came loose and fell, trapping him beneath it.
The incident occurred at about 12.30pm on wooded hillside on the Old Downs road in the Delgany area of Co Wicklow.
The victim’s son is believed to have run immediately for help.
He found several builders working on a nearby cottage at the end of the Old Downs road.
The Greystones fire brigade was called and assisted the injured man, who died before he could be transferred to hospital.
The man, aged about 47 and well known locally, died at the scene.
Gardaí from Bray attended the scene along with an ambulance crew from Wicklow and firemen from Bray.
A Garda source described the death as a tragic accident and said an inquest would be held.