LAST UPDATE | 30 Aug 2022
THE TAOISEACH AS well as members of the local community have paid tribute to two teenage boys who drown in a Co Derry lake yesterday evening.
The two boys had got into trouble while swimming at 6.25pm yesterday and had been in a larger group who stopped off at the lough while cycling in the area.
They were pupils at St Columb’s College in the city.
The bicycles the boys had been riding remained beside the lough on Tuesday which has been cordoned off by police, while some locals visited the small jetty to leave flowers in tribute.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin expressed his deepest sympathies to the families of the two boys.
“Our hearts go out to their families. We can all imagine young people going out to enjoy a beautiful summer’s afternoon. And for it to end in such tragedy, people availing of and using a water amenity, which we’ve all done in our different times,” he told reporters in Monaghan.
St Columb’s principal Finbar Madden described “shock and sadness” within the school at the “heart-breaking loss of two of our incoming Year 13 pupils”.
“No words can express the devastation that we feel as a school community, but first and foremost our thoughts and prayers are with both boys’ families, community and friends,” he said in a statement.
“This will be a very difficult time for the whole St Columb’s family and in the coming days it will be important that our pupils are with people they know and trust.”
He said they will be providing support for the students.
The boys had been involved with Newbuildings Cricket Club.
In a statement, the club described them as “two of the most well mannered and lovely people”.
“It was an absolute pleasure to have in our U15s last season,” they said.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families & friends, survivors and the wider Kerala community.”
SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said the local community was shocked at the tragedy, particularly the Kerala community which the teenagers had been part of.
He said the city is heartbroken at the devastating loss of Reuven Simon and Joseph Sebastian, adding thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends and the Kerala community at “this unbelievably dark and difficult time”.
“All of the young fellas involved in last night’s incident were from the Kerala community, they would be a very settled, established and vibrant Kerala community here, maybe 250 families from southern India who have been here a long time,” he told the PA news agency.
“These young fellas have just completed their GCSEs, they got their results last week. They would have been looking forward to getting back to school.
“I have spoken to the school principal who was looking forward to having these boys back, he said they were great students and never had a day’s bother out of them, and now he is going to have to break it to the rest of the boys at the school who will be coming back this week to the sight of two empty desks in their classroom.”
A PSNI spokesperson said a third teenager is recovering in hospital with non-life threatening injuries in the incident in the Temple Road area.
“Police received a report shortly after 6.25pm yesterday of a number of people in difficulty in the water. Officers attended along with colleagues from other emergency services.
“One male was taken from the water and transferred to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. A second male was located and recovered from the water after extensive searches by Foyle Search and Rescue and police divers. He was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.”
With additional reporting from Niall O’Connor
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