Authorities are calling for eyewitnesses after a fatal one-vehicle accident that claimed the life of a 43-year-old male. His vehicle, a jeep, collided with a verge and came to rest in a river in west Cork overnight. The man was en route along the R571, between Eyries and Castletownbere on the Beara peninsula, when the vehicle left the road and smashed through an embankment constructed of earth and stone.
The vehicle plummeted over 5m into the Keallincha river, landing upside down. The victim, however, seems to have been ejected during the crash and was discovered slightly further away. An oncoming driver noticed the wrecked verge around 6am and alerted the authorities. The man was declared dead at the site and his remains were later transported to Cork University Hospital for an autopsy.
While the identity of the man has been ascertained, police will not disclose his name until they’ve communicated with his closest relatives. It’s believed that he was an eastern European national who had been a resident and worker in the Castletownbere region for many years.
In order to facilitate an official crash investigation, the road was shut down and alternative routes were implemented. Gardai are urging anyone who traversed the route between 1am and 6am on Friday to get in touch on 027-20860 at the Bantry Garda station. They are especially interested in dash cam or mobile phone recordings.
This incident marks the second tragic vehicular accident recently in west Cork, succeeding the death of 24-year-old Jason Hegarty from Ahakista, whose jeep departed the road and hit the countryside at Letterlickey, situated between Bantry and Ballydehob, in the early hours of Monday.