Dublin student dies in kayak tragedy in Slovenia
DROWNING
Robin Schiller and Gareth Kirwan – 14 April 2015 12:00 AM
A north Dublin college is in shock after a second student died in the space of just five months as a result of a kayaking accident.
He was named locally as Colaiste Dhulaigh student Conor Keleghan. He was on a kayaking trip in Slovenia with the college when he got into difficulty in what has been described as calm waters.
The 20-year-old from Coolmine, Blanchardstown had been paddling upstream in the Soca river on Sunday afternoon when the group he was with noticed he was missing.
Senior members of the group eventually discovered his capsized kayak with Conor inside, and frantically attempted to perform CPR in a bid to resuscitate him, but tragically he was pronounced dead on the river bank at 2.30pm. Slovenian police contacted gardai and the student's family have been notified.
The Department of Foreign Affairs have confirmed that they are aware of the incident, and added that they are providing consular assistance. The travelling tour had only arrived in Slovenia on Saturday, and are believed to be returning to Ireland within the next 24 hours. It is the second fatal kayaking accident in just five months.
Friends made distress calls to the coastguard at 3.50pm to report him missing but the 21-year-old had already been underwater for 45 minutes.
