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Gardaí have recovered a weapon which they believe was used during a fatal lunchtime assault in Limerick city on Wednesday afternoon.
The implement was located during forensic examinations of the scene at Roches Row, which links Thomas Street and Roches Street.
It is expected a murder investigation will be formally launched on Thursday, once the results of a post mortem – to be conducted by Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Michael Curtis – are known.
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The alarm was raised shortly after 1.30pm on Wednesday after an altercation broke out between a number of men at the narrow laneway, which runs adjacent to a multi-story car park.
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Gardaí from nearby Henry Street station and HSE paramedics arrived on scene within minutes to discover a Romanian man with serious injuries lying in a pool of blood on the side of the street.
As large crowds gathered at either end of the laneway – just a stone’s throw from the city’s main O’Connell Street thoroughfare – paramedics could be seen working on the man for almost half an hour.
The Romanian national, who is aged in his early 50s, was later removed by ambulance under garda escort to University Hospital Limerick where he was pronounced dead.
An Irish man, aged in his 50s, who was arrested at the scene is being detained at Roxboro Road garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
Gardai have obtained CCTV footage from the locality and any witnesses are asked to contact Henry Street garda station at (061) 212400.
Superintendent Derek Smart, who is leading the investigation, is particularly appealing to anyone who was in the multi-story car park around the time of the incident to contact them.
“We know there were people in the car park – either dropping off or collecting cars and they may have heard or seen something,” he said.