Cookstown incident: Third teenager dies after St Patrick's Day party at hotel in Northern Ireland

Police say preliminary investigation shows ‘crush towards the front door of this hotel’

Adam Forrest
Monday 18 March 2019 08:20 GMT
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Third teenager dies after St Patrick's Day party in Cookstown, Northern Ireland

A third teenager has died following a St Patrick's Day party at a hotel in Cookstown, Northern Ireland on Sunday night.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said two 17-year-olds and one 16-year-old were killed in what appears to have been a crush at the Greenvale Hotel after a “large crowd” of revellers tried to get into the venue.

“Our preliminary investigations show there was a crush towards the front door of this hotel, and in that crush people seem to have fallen,” said the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief.

“There seemed to be a little bit of struggling going on to get people up off the ground and that might explain also why there was a report of some fighting.”

He made a direct appeal for people with footage of the incident to hand it to police, rather than post it on social media.

A 16-year-old girl is in a stable condition in hospital, while a further two teenagers were treated for injuries they suffered during the incident, which happened around 9.30pm.

Mr Hamilton added: “We are of an open mind ... it looks like a crowd of young people, a large crowd, pushing up against the front of the hotel to get in to this event.

“People then seem to have fallen and then got crushed. I would urge you to use that with some caution. Certainly it appears to be at the minute a crush, people have fallen and then been fatally injured.”

Dr Nigel Ruddell, medical director of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, described the events as a “tragic accident”.

“At this stage everything points toward it being a tragic accident and our hearts absolutely go out to the families of those involved and everybody who was caught up in this incident last night,” he said.

Asked about reports of fighting, Mr Ruddell told the BBC there were no injuries to suggest violent altercations. “We did not see anything consistent with any fight or any violent injuries at all,” he said.

Police outside Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown

Emma Heatherington, whose two sons, aged 17 and 18, had been at the event, said she “felt sick” when she saw the police appeal. “My two boys were there so I rang them, shaking, and thankfully got them both,” she said.

“They were on their way home at that stage. They say there was a huge crowd waiting to get into the venue and then a lot of commotion up near the front of the queue, then they said the emergency services arrived and they were all asked to leave.

“They came home very, very shaken with rumours that some people had died.”

Hotel entrance cordoned off 

Brendan Marshall, a local photographer, said the Greenvale Hotel was well known for teenage discos. “(They have them) on special occasions such as St Patrick’s Day or around Christmas time,” he added.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said it had received several calls from about 9.30pm on Sunday and sent two rapid-response paramedics, two doctors and five emergency crews to the scene.

Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, said: “We are devastated to hear of the confirmed PSNI report of at least two deaths this evening at the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown. This is shocking and tragic news and our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased.”

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Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster tweeted that her “thoughts and prayers” were “with everyone impacted by this tonight”.

And Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle O'Neill called it a “parents’ worst nightmare ... My thoughts and prayers are with the families.”

Anyone who witnessed what happened can contact police on 101 ext 52014.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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