Tributes have been paid to the 19-year-old man who died in a jet ski accident on Lough Dergert in Kildare last night.
He was referred to as Wassiou Ayawe and lived in the Morris and Park Mary neighborhoods of Limerick city.
He was a trained football player with Limerick FC and attended the CBS secondary school in the city for several years.
Mr Ayawe died after he and two teenage girls, who were on a jet ski at Loch Dergeirt, were thrown into the lake when the jet ski overturned near the Killaloe bridge, reports RTE.
Mr Ayawe’s family and friends took to social media to pay tribute to him and said they were heartbroken at his loss.
In a photo tribute, his devastated sister Tiana said balloons would go up in memory of her beautiful brother tonight, reports RTE.
Limerick City North Independent Councillor Frankie Daly said he knew the young man as a talented footballer and was wanted by many of the city’s football clubs.
“It’s a huge tragedy for his family,” he said, reports RTE.
Tony O’Brien, who is also Chair of Clare County Council, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland program that the young man was a visitor to the area, which is usually popular with people who come to swim.
“It was a very tragic accident. A young man and his friends out enjoying themselves on the water and an incident occurred. Exactly what happened is still a matter for investigation and gardaí are trying to find out. It cast a very dark shadow over the community yesterday evening when the news got around that a young person lost their life. Because it is a very popular place for young people to gather,” reports RTE.
Gardaí are investigating the situation that led up to the accident and have interviewed eyewitnesses and those who were there to help.
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