Tributes paid to teenagers who died in swimming incident in Donegal
Community 'numb' after teenagers die in swimming incident
Barry O'ConnorBBC News NI
HandoutTwo teenage boys have died after getting into difficulty in the water near Buncrana in County Donegal.
They have been named locally as 16-year-old Emmanuel Familola from Nigeria and 18-year-old Matt Sibanda, from Zimbabwe.
A juvenile was rescued after a search operation and taken to Letterkenny University Hospital, where he died in the early hours of Sunday, gardaí (Irish police) have confirmed.
On Saturday evening, an 18-year-old male's body was recovered from the water.
A third teenage boy managed to make it back to shore, according to the RNLI, and was taken to hospital.
Police said the local coroner has been notified and a post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course.
Gardaí investigations are ongoing.
The Irish Coast Guard told BBC News NI that an alert was raised shortly before 16:00 local time by a member of the public after reports there were a number of people in difficulty in the water.
The multi-agency operation was led by Malin Head Coast Guard with assistance from police and the ambulance service.
An Irish Coast Guard helicopter was also involved in the search along with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
In a statement, the Irish Coast Guard thanked all the search and rescue units and members of the public who had assisted in the search.
Joe Joyce from Lough Swilly RNLI said when they got the call they immediately launched two lifeboats.
"One of the teenagers managed to make it back ashore," he told BBC News NI.
A former RNLI crew member, who was on the lough in his own personal boat, assisted the incident.
"He came on scene and and pulled another 16 year old out of the water.
"Around nine, half nine, we were starting to scale down the search as we lost the daylight and the Coast Guard had their drone team up.
"An object was detected in the water. That object turned out to be a person, an 18-year-old teenager.
"He was recovered by the Coast Guard to the pier in Buncrana, where a doctor on scene pronounced him dead."
'Talented young boys'
The mayor of Inishowen, Sinn Féin's Jack Murray, told BBC News NI the community is "devastated."
"On what was such a happy day, Donegal won the Ulster Championship, the Sun was shining and then that filtered through, the worst news possible that these two young men have lost their lives, it is horrendous," he said.
Paying tribute to the two teenagers, Murray said they were "of different nationalities from Africa, who were talented young boys".
"It is just so sad that their lives could be cut short so tragically," he said.
"This is a community that has been visited by tragedy far too often," he added.
"I would like to think and hope that their families know that we are all thinking of them."
'Integrated really well'
100% Redress councillor Joy Beard said people in the area are in "shock."
"We are absolutely heartbroken," she said.
Beard added that Buncrana is a "strong community" that will "rally around" the families.
She also paid tribute to the emergency services and coast guard.
Fianna Fáil councillor Foinán Bradley said that the three teenagers involved in the incident "came to Buncrana a number of years ago with their families" and that they had "integrated really well into the community."
He added they were "known by many people here in Buncrana" and the community was "very, very fond of them".
He described the community as "numb" following the incident.
"There is a very sombre air over the whole area this morning."
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