The inquest into the deaths of two men in a Limerick bridge accident, heard that a cable jammed and an alarm failed to sound, before the cage the men were in, was plunged into the River Shannon.
The sole survivor, Paul Murphy of Galway House, Ballysteen, Askeaton told the inquest at Kilmallock Courthouse in Co Limerick yesterday that he heard ‘a bang’ when the cage he and two other men were in, fell into the Shannon.
The stone masons were carrying out renovation works on the bridge with repairs to the wall. They were in a cage, suspended by a cable from a truck mounted crane.
Mr Murphy told the inquest that he couldn’t swim and all week, he was afraid that one of them would fall out of the cage.
Emergency services arrived at the scene within six minutes of getting the distress call, but heroic efforts to save Bryan Whelan and TJ O’Herlihy were not successful.
The inquest heard that Paul Murphy managed to free himself from the harness, which was clipped to the cage and was rescued as the flow of water moved him down river.
He described the job as ‘being 99% the same as any other job, the only difference was the suspended basket’.
He said they were told to clip on the harnesses at all times.
‘I remember falling like a rollercoaster into the Shannon’ he said, adding that he took a big breath and had swallowed water.
‘I remember hitting the water and the life vest inflating and I told myself I had to get the harness off’.
He described kicking and trying to swim to make his way to the bank, while people on the bridge shouted at him to lie on his back. He said when he heard sirens, he knew help was on the way.
Paul Murphy expressed his condolences to the families of Bryan and TJ and thanked everyone involved in the rescue, his work colleagues, members of the public and his family.
In cross examination by barrister Maura McNally SC, acting for the family of TJ O’Herlihy, Mr Murphy said they were not given any instructions on what to do if the cage fell into the water.
He also said there was no demonstration on how to get the harness clips off in the case of an emergency, saying everyone knew how to get the clips off.
Mr Murphy told the inquest that there originally was no plan to use life jackets, but this changed, after they were told to wear them.
When asked if he had seen any risk assessment, he said he hadn’t seen any that day, but was aware of paperwork on the first day.
The coroner then interjected saying this line of questioning wasn’t appropriate and he wasn’t comfortable with it, that this witness, Mr Murphy, was only there to give facts.
Overload alarm did not sound
Garda evidence from the Public Service Vehicle report showed that the cable jammed when a ‘two-block situation’ occurred.
The report stated that the overload alarm did not sound.
‘It was a healthy cable being overloaded to break point,’ the report said.
This was concurred by the Health and Safety Authority inspector who said the wire had suffered a ‘catastrophic failure’.
The HSA inspector, Mr Dermot O’Brien told the inquest ‘the overload safety device failed to operate.’
Echoing the sentiments of the garda report, he said there was no ‘audible alarm’ so that the crane operator could be made aware of what was happening.
‘Tragic and harrowing’
Life jackets and harnesses were cut from Bryan Whelan and TJ O’Herlihy before they were brought out of the water and CPR was carried out.
Coroner John McNamara described the case as ‘tragic and harrowing’, adding that it was miraculous that Paul Murphy had survived.
Dr Healy, who performed the autopsies on August 30, 2015, said that both lungs of the two men were hyper inflated and filled with water and said the cause of death was drowning.
She said alcohol was not detected in either of the men.
When asked by barrister Maura McNally SC, how long a person would need to be submerged in water to drown, Dr Healy said she couldn’t say, but it could be seconds or minutes.
‘There was no more I could do’
In questioning from the Health and Safety Authority Inspector Dermot O’Brien, the driver and crane operator, Richie Hughes, who has more than twenty years experience as a crane operator, said he had little experience operating the remote control, which manoeuvred the cage up and down above the water.
When the basket fell into the water, Mr Hughes ‘tied two ratchet straps together and fed them down to the basket, hoping one of the lads would raise their hands and catch it’.
He said ‘about ten minutes passed - I was counting every second - there was no more I could do.’
The inquest heard that there was no rescue boat made available to be near the workers while they were in the cage.
Inspector Dermot O’Brien of the HSA told the court there is no legal requirement for a boat, but that conditions were difficult.
He said that having the men’s harnesses tethered to the cage mitigated against the life jackets they were wearing as floatation devices.
Mr Whelan and Mr O’Herlihy were pronounced dead almost exactly one hour after the distress call had gone into emergency services.
The call was received at 15:45 - Bryan Whelan (29) of O’Briensbridge, Co Clare was pronounced dead at 16:45, while TJ O’Herlihy (36) of Castleisland was pronounced dead at 16:50.
Heroic efforts to save the two men were made by members of Limerick Marine Search and Rescue, firefighters, gardaí and paramedics from the ambulance service. These efforts were recognised by the families of Bryan Whelan and TJ O’Herlihy, as well as e Coroner John McNamara and Inspector Gary Thompson on behalf of An Garda Siochána.
