THESE are the shocking scenes after a 100-year-old pub in Mayo collapsed to the horror of a visiting family trapped inside on Tuesday morning.
Five people were hospitalised after locals awoke to a loud bang caused by the mysterious crumbling of Duffy’s Pub in the village of Kilkelly, Co Mayo, at around 8.45am.
The scene in Kilkelly in Mayo after a 100-year-old pub collapsed
A visiting family were trapped inside after the shock event
The building collapsed on top of a parked van and covered the pathwayCONOR MCKEOWN(c)
The building collapsed on top of a parked van and covered the pathway and part of the road in rubble. Miraculously, no one outside the pub was injured.
Emergency services responded rapidly and were on the scene before 9am at the century-old pub, just off the N17 between Charlestown and Claremorris,
Five AirBnB guests, lodging in the self-catering accommodation located just off the square in Kilkelly, were rescued.
The family had been staying in an AirBnb above the pub, and locals said it was a “miracle” there were no fatalities.
The victims were taken to Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar, and their injuries are understood to be non-life threatening.
Residents said the three-story building fell to the ground in one go.
Photos revealed a large amount of rubble from the building and a partial wall balancing on a slant.
A fallen drain pipe and debris crushed a white van parked in front of the building.
Joe Duffy, whose family own the pub, said his elderly parents and siblings feel gutted and are lost for words.
He said: “I don’t know what to say. My parents had this pub for so long. I work in Dublin and was down here at the weekend having a few pints.
“The memories of a lifetime are gone, people loved Mam and Dad, loved this pub. There was 11 pubs here once and only a handful remain. But at the end of the day everyone survived and that’s what matters most.”
Fianna Fail Cllr John Caulfield told how the community were extremely lucky that there were “no lives were lost”, and described it as nothing short of a “miracle”.
He told The Irish Sun: “Kilkelly awoke this morning to the shock of their local pub that fell to the ground.
“The bar in Kilkelly is long established.”
‘SHOCKED’
He continued: “It was ran by Kevin and Maureen for the past 40 years. It was an integral part of our community. To say we were shocked when this happened.
“However, there is a relief that no lives were lost.
“If you look at the state of the building now and no lives were lost. That’s one thing we are grateful for.”
He told how the roof came down all in one, but emergency services were quick to act.
He said: “There was a wonderful response from all involved, from the fire service, the ambulance, An Garda Síochána and Mayo County Council for the quick response.
“The last person out of the building… Four of the five people who were in the building were able to walk away from it.
“But the last lady, it took a while for her to be taken safely from it.”
‘DANGEROUS RESCUE’
The Fianna Fail councillor said the owners are in a state of shock but relieved that no one was seriously injured.
The AirBnB had five bedrooms, which could accommodate up to eight people.
Caulfield explained that there was a “dangerous element” in the rescue as the electricity and water were switched on.
He added: “I want to thank the fire service and all involved for the quick response and the way they carried out [the rescue] in very dangerous circumstances.”
The local councillor said schoolchildren had a close escape being on mid-term.
He said: “Under normal circumstances, there would have been schoolchildren passing at that time.”
Locals in the village remained in a state of shock all day.
‘THANKING GOD’
He added while a whole lot of history has been lost, the community are “thanking god there’s no lives lost”.
Paul Lawless, a Mayo-based peace commissioner, told PA that he hopes those injured get well soon.
He said: “There are a lot of locals in shock, really, disbelief. It was a functioning pub, an operational pub, a three-storey building, it was really shocking to see it in rubble in seconds really.
“I think we were very lucky, it seemed to happen at around nine o’clock in the morning and obviously, it is a midterm break.
“And I think we’re very lucky in the sense that had it been a school day, perhaps there would have been much more footfall – passing traffic, children on the footpath.
“It does appear like the building has encroached or collapsed onto the footpath, so I think it was a miracle that there was no one killed in the collapse.”
EMERGENCY SERVICES HAILED
He added: “Credit to the emergency services and the gardai. My understanding is that they were on the scene very, very quickly and because the building wasn’t totally collapsed, they were working under hazardous conditions themselves to help the people involved, so a huge credit to them.
“I think they came from Charlestown, Swinford and Kiltimagh fire stations, so they were very, very quick on the scene here – they would (belong) to retained fire services in the area.”
The main Street in Kilkelly was closed on Tuesday, and local diversions were set in place.
Some houses and businesses in the area experienced power cuts today following the incident.
The Health and Safety Authority and Gardai will carry out separate investigations into what happened.
Emergency services responded rapidly and were on the scene before 9am Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
