A second man has died from his injuries received during an explosion at the Tarbert ESB plant in Kerry last week.
Mr Michael Healy (49) died at teatime yesterday in the burns unit of Cork University Hospital surrounded by his wife and family, exactly one week since the accident.
Mr Healy had never regained consciousness since the blast which also claimed the life of Mr Patrick McCrohan (38), from Doon, Tralee, who died in Cork University Hospital on Friday, July 4th.
Mr Healy was from Tieraclea, Tarbert, and was working with Mr McCrohan and Mr Dermot Thornton in the switch-gear room of the ESB plant when a circuit-breaker exploded, setting the room on fire.
All three men were transferring to the burns unit at Cork for treatment of their injuries. Mr Thornton remains in a stable condition at the hospital. The ESB and the Health and Safety Authority are now both investigating the explosion.
Mr Healy was an electrical instrumentation supervisor at the power station and joined the ESB as an apprentice in 1971. He was married with four sons.
The chairman of ESB, Mr Tadhg O'Donoghue, and the chief executive, Mr Padraig McManus, expressed their profound sympathy to Mr Healy's family, friends and colleagues.
"This is a devastating blow to us all," said Mr McManus. "Everyone in the ESB is shocked and saddened by the news and share in the grief experienced by the Healy family," he said.
The Tarbert parish priest, Father Maurice Brick, said last night: "He was an excellent community man in Tarbert, always helping the elderly and on the school board," he said.