Buncrana

[Aidan1150]

What a terrible tragedy, sometimes words just aren't enough.........

 

[Micky]

Very sad. Had a girlfriend lives in the next village, Carndonagh, visited Buncrana several times.
A tragic accident ... as said, no words can be sufficient.

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

You are right, how the family and friends will ever get over this....

Really shocking that the occupants could not get out / be got out. Makes me worry about the child-locks in case of a crash..

 

[mgpaulie]

What an awful tragedy. I be down there quite often. On most Sunday evenings the pier is quite busy. Last Sunday evening it was unusually quiet.
I was on the beach with the kids beside the pier until about 20 mins before it happened. My mate who was also with us at the time had ratchet straps, ropes etc. all manner of stuff in his wagon that could have been useful.
The Lifeboat was out on manoeuvres and moored up at the pier about an hour before it happened. All 'if's and buts' I know, but hard to get your head around how such a simple thing could result in such a loss of life.

Just a terrible loss

 

[Packer]

I understand that it slipped down the launching ramp, is that correct? If it is I don't know why they didn't have the doors open and getting out before it even got to the water. Child locks could have been the reason if the car had rear doors. So very sad.

The guy that saved the baby is reported to have said that he had hold of one of the boys too but the lad got stuck. He said the driver was half out and could have escaped but chose to stay and try to help the others.

 

[mgpaulie]

There was quite a lot of algae growing on the pier and the tide was on its way out thus the algae was wet and very slippy.

I've launched boats from that slipway many times and have had to use ropes or straps to let the boat trailer down into the water whilst allowing the car to stay up near the top of the pier. I've also tried to exit the water up the slipway after a few swims with great difficulty and do know that it is very very slippy.

It is a steep slipwayto allow for the ferry that runs during the summer.

It has been suggested that once it hit the water that all doors and windows wouldn't open.

 

[earthmover]

Have used many slipways in the past, and they all share one characteristic, the area around the tide mark is like a freshly greased ice rink. It's a terrible tragedy to find out in such a fashion. It read as though the car slid off the end of the slip and sank almost instantly. So very sad.
Mark

 

[patzx12]

Picture of the year..
A great hero.

 

[B Murr]

The Audi Q7 is quite a tank, I'm sure many who drive it get a feeling of invincibility. When it went in the water when asked if he was alright the driver is reported to have asked for the coastguard to be called. I'd hazard a guess that the man thought his car would float around like a boat but didn't realise otherwise until almost too late. The windows in cars are not easy to break, I asked my son what would he do if in similar situation and straight away he said use the seatbelt buckle to break the window. At end of day, with awful tragic consequences, this man made some serious errors of judgment and his unfortunate family paid the heaviest price possible. Terrible needless tragedy.

 

[Packer]

......................I asked my son what would he do if in similar situation and straight away he said use the seatbelt buckle to break the window................

I believe that some cars have laminated side glass these days so the belt buckle wouldn't work. Without a sharp point even toughened glass isn't easy to break.

It would be hard and probably for most people counter intuitive to think fast enough to get the doors open before hitting the water. The funeral photo's are some of the most poignant images I've seen in a long time.