Garda divers are to continue their search today for a man who jumped into the River Corrib in Galway on Thursday in an attempt to avoid being caught for shoplifting.
The man, in his 20s, who is not from the city, was followed from a shop at Eglinton Street at 1.15pm on Thursday by a security guard who claimed he had stolen items from the shop.
He ran from the shop, with the security guard in pursuit, towards Galway Courthouse before heading for the river at Newtownsmyth, a distance of about half a kilometre.
The man jumped off the riverbank and into the fast-moving river in front of shocked onlookers. He entered a stretch of the river between the Salmon Weir Bridge and O'Brien's Bridge. The river rushes from that point under O'Brien's Bridge and the Wolfe Tone Bridge straight out to sea.
A strong current pulled the man downriver and he quickly disappeared from sight. Gardaí were called to the scene and the Shannon search and rescue helicopter joined the search. Galway Lifeboat was also called and was involved for some 2½ hours, scanning the docks. The search was called off when the light faded on Thursday evening.
The hunt resumed yesterday morning. Members of the Garda Underwater Unit from Dublin were called in to help in the operation. The Garda Air Support unit was also involved in the search. But the Galway Lifeboat did not continue assisting gardaí.
The search is continuing in the docklands and gardaí are now focusing on a patch of the area but are not extending their search to the sea at present. They are also searching on foot along the banks of the river.
It is believed that gardaí have established the man's identity but have not released his name.
He is described at 5ft 9in with dark hair and was wearing a white hoodie with blue stripes, an Aston Villa scarf and a baseball cap. It is understood that he spoke with an English accent.
The shop involved was a large discount store, so the items the man tried to steal would not have been very valuable. The shop's security guard has given a statement to gardaí.
Galway gardaí have begun an investigation into the incident. They are appealing for any witnesses to contact them at Mill Street station on 091-538000.
They are also asking anybody walking along the shoreline this evening or tomorrow to be vigilant.
