Youth dies after boating accident

The boat was washed ashore after it capsized

Tributes have been paid to a 17-year-old youth who died after a boating accident on Lough Neagh.

Paddy Kelly, from Maghera in County Londonderry, was on a wildfowl shooting trip with his uncle and a friend when their boat capsized near Ballyronan on Wednesday morning.

The dead youth's 50-year-old uncle and a 24-year-old friend were treated in hospital for hypothermia.

The Coastguard sent two rescue boats from Lough Neagh Rescue at Kinnego after it was alerted that the small boat had overturned.

I remember Paddy as a quiet young man who got on with the business of work, someone who was very determined to succeed

Headmaster Sean Mc Elwee

A helicopter also joined the search.

However, by the time the first rescue boat arrived, all three were ashore.

It is thought the two older men swam 30 metres to the lough shore and raised the alarm.

The teenager was washed ashore.

He was taken to hospital but died a short time later.

Paddy Kelly

Sean McElwee, headmaster of St Patrick's College in Maghera, said Paddy had been a popular and dedicated A-level student.

He said: "I remember Paddy as a quiet young man who got on with the business of work, someone who was very determined to succeed.

"He was very focussed on what he wanted to do and someone that wouldn't have come to your attention. He just got on with things.

"He was very popular with the teachers and pupils at the school, and he will be sadly missed."

The teenager's father is a senior teacher at the school and Mr McElwee said he visited the family on Wednesday night to express his sympathy.

"It would come as a terrible blow to the family and obviously I would want to sympathise on behalf of the college staff and the governors with the Kelly family."

Investigation

Liam Colqhoun from the Coastguard said the group may have got into difficulty because of bad weather conditions.

"The weather was pretty bad and even the lifeboat from Kinnego had a hard job getting back down to the base on completion of the job," he said.

"Normally they take 15 to 20 minutes to get back and it took them over an hour due to the roughness of the actual sea state and the wind.

"We can only assume then that the boat was actually caught in the bad weather and capsized."

An investigation into the exact cause of the accident has begun.