Investigations launched after man killed in wall collapse

Gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority have begun separate investigations after a 72-year-old man was killed when a wall collapsed near his home in Bandon this afternoon.

The man was in the back garden of his home at St Patrick’s Quay in Bandon around 4pm when workers on an adjacent property began filling in an area next to a wall with gravel.

A tipper truck had just emptied the gravel next to the wall when the wall collapsed on the man and rescuers had to dig him out from under the rubble.

The emergency services and gardaí were called but the man was pronounced dead at the scene and his body removed to Cork University Hospital for a postmortem.

Gardaí say that they are treating the man’s death as a tragic accident and will prepare a file on the incident.

Meanwhile the HSA have dispatched inspectors to the scene and they will carry out an investigation and prepare a report on the work place accident.