AN IRISHMAN has been killed in a hit-and-run accident in New York City.
Kevin Bell, from Newry, was fatally injured in the accident in The Bronx early yesterday morning.
IrishCentral said he had been out socialising with friends, and had been due to play a Gaelic football match with them.
The 26-year-old had moved to the city last August.
The New York Post quoted a woman who had pulled over to assist Bell after he was hit by a driver who sped away.
“I’m just so disgusted right now. I don’t understand people. I’m the only one who stopped the car to run to him. People were just driving by,” she said.
That paper also said that the removal of Bell’s remains had been the source of some controversy, as medical examiners had put his body in the back of a van which was stuffed with bags of garbage.
Photos published by the paper showed officials having to make room in the back of the van, moving aside “grimy bags of recyclable bottles” so that there was enough room to put the Co Down man’s remains inside.
It said medical emergency officials were looking into the circumstances surrounding the removal of his remains from the scene, on East 233rd St near Oneida Avenue.
The site of the accident is close to a local store selling imported Irish products to the city’s growing expatriate community.
The Irish News said Bell was from a well-known family and had been a champion Irish dancer who regularly featured in Scór competitions.
It added that family friends and others in Newry were now being organised to help cover the cost of repatriating his remains.
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