HEALTH AND safety experts examining the holiday apartment in Co Derry where two teenage friends were found dead of suspected gas poisoning believe they have found the source of a leak.
In a statement, officials from the Health and Safety Executive yesterday pointed to a gas appliance which “may have acted as a source of carbon monoxide”. The other 13 flats in the complex are also being examined and police have maintained a cordon around the property.
Aaron Davidson and Neil McFerran, both 18 and from Newtownabbey in Co Antrim, were found dead on Tuesday in the seaside village of Castlerock in Co Derry. They had been in the area on a break before their A-level results, which are released later this month.
Matthew Gaw (18), a friend of the two victims, was also found in the modern apartment complex at Tunnel Brae Court. He is recovering at the Causeway hospital in Coleraine, Co Derry.
Postmortems were carried out on the two teenagers yesterday. Katrina and George Davidson spoke yesterday of the events leading up to their son’s death. Mr Davidson told the News Letter how he had been contacted by Neil McFerran’s parents, who were worried as they could not contact the boys by mobile phone. “We were waiting on the boys coming back down on Tuesday afternoon and were a bit surprised when they hadn’t arrived by late in the afternoon,” he said.
“Neil’s parents wanted to know if I’d heard from Aaron, so I rang him and couldn’t get him either. We were getting really worried so I drove up to Castlerock and Neil’s dad followed me up in his car.
“I was banging on the door and windows but getting no answer. I tried to force a window open but eventually had to smash the glass and then help Neil’s dad to get in after covering up some of the broken glass.
“We found Aaron slumped on a settee and his friend Matthew sitting on the bigger settee. Neil was lying on the kitchen floor. Matthew was able to talk a wee bit but didn’t know where he was. It was terrible because no-one knew what had happened.”
In an interview with BBC Radio Ulster, Ms Davidson described the scene once they gained entry. “I was standing at the back but once we were inside we saw Matthew just sit up and he just looked terrible. Neil was lying on the floor and Aaron was lying on the settee, and I knew there and then, there was no hope – he was gone.”