THE bizarre death of a young Waterford man whose body was discovered among waste at the South West Bins depot in Kilmorna, Listowel, on Friday was the result of a tragic accident, CCTV footage confirmed over the weekend.

Thirty two-year-old David Power, a father of one from Bunmahon in Co Waterford, is now believed to have been killed instantly in a waste truck after going to sleep in a large commercial wheelie bin in the Mart Yard in Listowel early on Friday morning.

It is also believed Mr Power told a local garda only hours before he entered the container that he had been ejected from a Bed and Breakfast. It is thought he may have been ejected as he had not booked the room, but was sharing it with two other men who had.

News of the discovery on Friday evening sent shockwaves through Listowel, where thousands had gathered for Ladies' Day of the Listowel Races.

Mr Power's remains were discovered by workers at the South West Bins depot for recyclable waste in Kilmorna, some two to three miles outside Listowel, at 4pm on Friday evening — roughly 12 hours after he is believed to have died.

Paramedics and gardaí rushed to the scene as an investigation into the death was mounted. However, by close of the weekend gardaí had two key pieces of evidence with which they were able to rule out foul play — the results of Saturday's post mortem examination carried out by Dr Margot Bolster and CCTV of Mr Power's final acts.

In that footage, Mr Power is understood to have been seen climbing into the large bin — which would have contained only dry recyclable matter like cardboard — at 3.30am with the likely intention of going to sleep. The bin was collected by South West workers one hour later and would have been automatically emptied by the hoist at the back of the truck. Gardaí believe the young man was killed instantly.

A post-mortem examination carried out on his remains by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster on Saturday found that he died from the result of injuries sustained in the waste disposal truck. Workers at the plant who later made the grim discovery are understood to be in deep shock and the news marred the Friday's night Harvest Festival celebrations in Listowel.

Community

leaders, including Deputy Mayor of the town Anthony Curtin, described the incident as a terrible tragedy and said the thoughts of all in Listowel were with Mr Power's stricken family.

- DONAL NOLAN dnolan@kerryman.ie