Friend ‘tried to help him to safety': Boy (17) who drowned in river Barrow named locally
A teenage boy who died after getting in difficulty swimming in the river Barrow on Tuesday evening has been named locally.
Peter Byrne, from Dolmen Gardens, Carlow town was found by garda divers around 11pm in the river Barrow.
The 17-year-old is understood to have been swimming with a friend when he got into difficulty around 6.30pm in the river in the Milford area of the county.
The teenager had been at a local gym with a couple of friends when he and another friend decided to go swimming at Cloghristick, Milford.
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However, it's understood he got into difficulty at the swimming spot due to strong river currents. His friend saw what was happening and desperately tried to help him. However, he too was being drawn into the river currents but managed to swim to safety and raise the alarm. Gardaí and emergency services from Carlow town were quickly on the scene.
The teenager was a transition year student in the local CBS secondary school in Carlow town.
Emergency services along with gardaí remained at the scene for several hours as a search got under way to locate the teenager. The scene remains cordoned off by gardaí.
In a statement gardaí said that following a search operation involving emergency services, the Garda Water Unit recovered the body of a male, aged in his late teens, from the river Barrow at Milford, yesterday evening.
The teenager's remains have been transferred to University Hospital Waterford (UHW) where a postmortem examination will take place in due course. A file will be prepared for the Coroner.
A local man who knows the Byrne family said: 'It's an awful shock to hear such news. The family are well-known in the area. Both of Peter's friends, the boy who tried to help him to safety in the water and their friend who was at the gym with them, are both in a terrible state.'
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