TWO of the three men drowned when a fishing trip turned to tragedy near Caherciveen on Sunday were living in Killarney with the other man residing in Tralee.
The victims are all understood to have been natives of Latvia and gardaí have been in contact with members of their grief-stricken families. Two of the men are believed to have been in their 30s and the other was in his early 50s.
Their bodies were recovered from the water where the men had been fishing from a small rib at Coonanna Harbour, between Kells and Caherciveen, on Sunday.
The Coastguard Shannon 115 helicopter and a Valentia Lifeboat crew helped recover the bodies. Local divers and rescue units also assisted in the operation.
The alarm was raised at 6.20pm when a man out walking alerted gardaí after spotting a submerged rib in the water at the sheltered Coonanna Harbour.
Emergency services personnel rushed to the scene and after one body was recovered close to the pier, two more bodies more were discovered under the boat within half an hour.
It is believed they had been in the water for some hours and all three had been wearing lifejackets. The boat had disappeared and a search for the rib is being conducted today by divers.
“Conditions were calm. It was just an unfortunate accident. We don’t really know what happened,” one rescue team member said.
All three bodies were removed from the scene and taken to University Hospital Kerry where post mortem examinations will take place this Monday.
The men had set out on their fishing trip just before 8.30am on Sunday and it is understood that the harbour was an area they were very familiar with.
The parish priest of Caherciveen Canon Larry Kelly, said the tragedy had caused real shock and upset in the area.
“We feel huge sorrow. It is a huge tragedy,” he said.
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