A man has died after being recovered from the water at Inch Beach in Co Cork today, Friday, August 23, authorities have confirmed.
"Today at 3 pm, the Coast Guard at MRSC Valentia were alerted to several persons in difficulty in the water at Inch Beach, County Cork," a spokesperson from Ireland's Department of Transport, which oversees the Irish Coast Guard, told IrishCentral on Friday.
"A Search and Rescue mission was immediately initiated with the local Coast Guard unit from Guileen, Crosshaven Coast Guard and RNLI rescue boats, Ballycotton RNLI Lifeboat, in addition to the Coast Guard helicopter R117 from Waterford tasked to the scene.
"Four people were rescued from the water by members of the public.
"However, one person was subsequently recovered from the water requiring medical attention and was transferred to the National Ambulance Service who had also deployed to the scene."
In a separate statement, a spokesperson for An Garda Síochána told IrishCentral that gardaí and local emergency services responded to the incident in Inch Strand in Whitegate, Co Cork shortly before 3 pm this afternoon.
"A number of people had gotten into difficulty in the water at the location," the spokesperson said.
"A man, aged in his 50s, was removed from the water. He was later pronounced deceased.
"Arrangements will now be made for a post-mortem and the local coroner has been notified."
The Irish Examiner reports that the man who died, aged in his 50s and from Cork City, had rushed into the sea to help the four others who had gotten into difficulty.
The man had been enjoying an afternoon at the beach with his family, according to The Irish Sun.
A local told The Irish Sun: “It was very fortunate there wasn’t multiple casualties.
"Inch Beach is a place the locals treat with caution as there is a tendency for strong currents there
"This afternoon there was a fairly strong wind blowing and the waves would have been quite high
“It appears the swimmers got caught in an undercurrent and were in difficulty.
"The man who went to rescue them got swept out further by a strong wave.
“It’s an awful tragedy."
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