Suspect questioned over death of man who fell under Dublin bus

Gardaí investigating the death of a young man crushed under the wheels of a double-decker bus while involved in an altercation on a busy Dublin street were last night questioning the chief suspect in the case.

A second person who was at the scene has also been identified and, while he has been traced and interviewed, he has not been arrested.

The investigating team has still not identified the dead man, whose head and body were crushed when he fell into the path of a bus on the junction of Nassau Street and Dawson Street in the city centre at 5.40pm on Thursday.

Gardaí believe the victim had become involved in a row and was punched or pushed, causing him to fall into the road as the 145 double-decker bus was passing.

He fell under the wheels and was crushed to death as pedestrians looked on.

The area was crowded with rush-hour vehicle and pedestrian traffic, increased by evening Christmas shoppers.

Gardaí have secured good quality CCTV of the incident and believe a number of homeless people and drug users were involved in the row during which the victim died.

One of the group has been identified as the chief suspect whose actions apparently caused the victim to fall. Gardaí tracked him down in Dublin city centre yesterday and after putting him under surveillance for a period he was arrested.

He is a 29-year-old homeless man with an address at a Dublin hostel. He was last night being questioned at Pearse Street Garda station on suspicion of endangering the life of the victim.

The other people whom gardaí believe were at the scene and have been identified are being treated as “persons of interest” rather than as suspects.