Two teenagers who died off Donegal coast named

A community has gathered in memory of two teenagers who died after getting into difficulty off the coast of Donegal.

Matt Sibanda, 18, and Emmaneul Familola, 16, were understood to be playing football on Saturday when they went into the sea after a ball.

Members of the community attended a prayer vigil at St Mary’s Oratory in Buncrana on Sunday in memory of the two students.

“I welcome you all in such huge numbers this afternoon with members of the local community, especially the families of Matt and Emmanuel, who are in awful trauma today,” the congregation was told.

“Yesterday, this time 24 hours ago, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the sea was attractive, everything was wonderful.

“Today, a dark cloud has come over everybody in different ways, but especially the families of Emmanuel and Matt.”

Sinn Fein councillor Jack Murray said his understanding was they were playing football when the ball went into the water.

“They went in like any kid would do, it’s what I would have done myself, they went in after the ball,” he told RTE.

“The innocence of kids playing football and this is the outcome of it, there’s no words to describe how awful this incident is.”

A multi-agency rescue operation was launched after three young males got into difficulty in the water off Buncrana at around 4pm on Saturday.

Two male juveniles, one of whom was in a serious condition, were taken to Letterkenny University Hospital.

Gardai said this youngster died in the early hours of Sunday.

The body of an adult teenager was recovered late on Saturday and the search was stood down.

The local coroner has been notified and a post-mortem examination will be arranged, gardai said.