The tragic scene at Buncrana Pier. (North West Newspix)
Donegal county councillor and Buncrana resident Jack Murray has said last night’s horrific drownings have brought back memories of the Inishowen road crash of 2010.
Cllr Murray, who lives close to Buncrana Pier, said locals are just numb with sadness and disbelief at the tragedy which claimed five lives.
Gardai are still piecing together the exact circumstances which resulted in a jeep going off the pier resulting killing five people as well as the miraculous rescue of a two month old toddler.
Cllr Murray said people cannot help thinking back to the car crash outside Clonmany which claimed the lives of eight people.
He told Donegal Daily “I was in my house and I began to hear sirens a lot of activity. The texts messages started to go off and I came down to the pier.
“There was emergency personnel everywhere and it was obvious that something tragic had happened.
“We’re hearing now that five people have died and it’s just so sad. People are just numb and they are obviously thinking about the road tragedy we had here in 2010. It has brought it all back.
“Inishowen has had so much tragedy and this would appear to be another chapter in that tragic history.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with this family at this time and their relatives. It’s just awful,” he said.
Cllr Jack Murray
Last night’s tragedy happened around 7.15pm as the sun was setting.
It is still unclear as to how the tragedy happened but eye-witnesses claim the vehicle, a Northern-Ireland registered Audi Q7, was turning on the pier when it went into the water.
Two adults and at least two children drowned in the car.
However, another infant was thrown from the vehicle and was rescued by locals at the pier.
The toddler was rushed to Letterkenny University Hospital but the child’s condition is not known.
Several lifeboats, ambulance personnel, Gardai and members of the fire service as well as local divers all rushed to the scene.
The Rescue 118 helicopter, who had been involved in exercises locally earlier in the day, also attended.
The helicopter used a search spotlight in a bid to locate any possible survivors from the tragedy.
Gardai immediately threw a cordon around the area of the tragedy to prevent people getting to three scene.
One eye-witness said it was horrific to see small bodies stretched out on the pier with blankets put over them.
The deceased were then taken from the scene to Letterkenny University Hospital.
The Audi jeep was taken from the water around 9pm and Gardai covered the vehicle before it was taken from the scene.
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