THERE WAS only about five feet of water where three young men drowned in their upturned car near Castletownbere at the weekend. Rescuers used a knife to cut them free of their seatbelts but the men were pronounced dead when taken on land.
Gardaí spoke to the two survivors on Saturday. It is believed the car was travelling at no more than 45km/h when it veered off the roadway and went across the 3.7-metre grass margin to the edge of the quay wall, where it hung for a moment before toppling into the sea.
The car slipped into the sea and turned over in the water near Dunboy Castle, just outside Castletownbere in west Cork.
Colm Harrington (21), West End, Bere Island, Shane Kelly (20), Allihies, Co Cork, and Fintan O'Driscoll (17), Foildarrig, Castletownbere, Co Cork, all died.
Cillian O'Sullivan (19), Fehanaugh, Lauragh, Co Kerry, and Greg Harrington (18), Foildarrig, Castletownbere, managed to escape from the car when it entered the water. They were yesterday recovering at home with their families.
Supt Vincent Duggan, who is leading the investigation, described the tragedy as "a freak accident".
Gardaí believe the owner of the car, Shane Kelly, and Colm Harrington, Fintan O'Driscoll and Cillian O'Sullivan, were driving in front of the historic Dunboy Castle when they went off the hard surface and became stuck in the grass. They rang Greg Harrington for assistance.
He drove out from Castletownbere to help tow the Ford Fiesta free. However, it seems they had managed to move the car themselves by the time he arrived and he joined them in going for a spin around the estate.
The car ended up on its roof in about five feet of water before one of the survivors managed to kick out a rear window. He and another managed to get out of the submerged vehicle and made their way to the quay wall and climb back on to the embankment.
The two men, Greg Harrington and Cillian O'Sullivan, then drove back to Castletownbere in Mr Harrington's car to raise the alarm.
Two men who were at the nightclub in the Berehaven Arms were the first to respond. They raced out to Dunboy and swam out to the Fiesta.
They were unable to free the driver and his front-seat passenger because their seatbelts had jammed. They returned to shore and got a knife from a member of Castletownbere Fire Brigade, which had also responded. They returned to free the three men.
Attempts were made to resuscitate all three once they had been cut out of the car, but they were pronounced dead at the scene. Their bodies were taken to Cork University Hospital for a post-mortem by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster before being released to their families later on Saturday afternoon.
Mr Harrington and Mr O'Sullivan were brought to Bantry General Hospital where they received treatment before being discharged at about 11.30am on Saturday. Both were said to be still in a state of shock.
The scene of the tragedy is directly in front of Dunboy Castle which was once a stronghold of the O'Sullivan Bere clan. It which was later taken over the Puxley family who built a Scots baronial-style mansion on the site and created a harbour in the cove for the export of copper from Allihies.
A Garda forensic crash investigator examined the scene on Saturday and the Fiesta was recovered from the water at about 4.30pm with the assistance of the local coast guard unit.
It was brought to Castletownbere where a Garda public service vehicles inspector carried out an examination.