A man in his 40s has died after drowning in a river moments after he was pulled over by Gardai.
The man entered the River Corrib in Galway shortly after 6pm.
Minutes before, he had been pulled over by gardai conducting a routine traffic stop.
It is understood he was about to have his vehicle taken off him after failing to show the required documents for his car.
He then fled on foot and entered the river.
Galway Gardai alerted all the emergency services at about 6.20pm after the man was seen entering the water at O’Brien’s Bridge.
The Irish Coastguard sought the assistance of Galway Fire Bridage, Galway Lifeboat, Galway Gardai and an Irish Rescue Helicopter from Shannon.
Galway RNLI Lifeboat launched within six minutes from the nearby Docks and immediately began a search of the estuary, the harbour and entrance to Lough Atalia while members of Galway Fire Brigade and Galway Gardai searched along the banks of the river.
A member of Galway Fire Brigade spotted the man near the entrance to the lower bridge at Lough Atalia and brought him to the shore.
The area was immediately cordoned off from traffic and the man was airlifted by the Coastguard helicopter to the bridge where he was examined by emergency services and taken by ambulance to hospital.
The Garda Ombudsman has been alerted to the incident and is now investigating.
SOURCE-IRISH MIRROR
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