Funeral on Friday for man killed in Bloody Foreland explosion

A Dunfanaghy man who was killed in a workplace explosion on Monday will be laid to rest on Friday

Father-of-one Stephen Montgomery, aged 43, was killed while working with machinery outside a roadside house in Bloody Foreland.

Investigations are continuing into the cause of an explosion.

Gardaí evacuated the area following the explosion and closed roads leading to the scene of the explosion.

Members of the Irish Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal also attended the scene yesterday evening. The Health and Safety Authority were also notified.

Mr Montgomery will be laid to rest in Ballymore Graveyard following a funeral service in his family home at Ballymore, Dunfanaghy.

Predeceased by his father Thomas, he is survived by his wife Doreen, cherished daughter Clara, mother Daphne, brothers Trever, Derek, Nigel, Andrew and Garvan, sisters Donna, Helen and Laura, father and mother-in-law William and Margaret Sayers, and a wide circle of family and friends.

Mr Montgomery's body was removed on Monday evening to Letterkenny University Hospital, where a postmortem was carried out.

Two other men, who were working at the site when the incident occurred, were uninjured.

Gardai and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) have begun investigating the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

Fr Brian O Fearraigh, the parish priest in Gaoth Dobhair, said the area was gripped with 'numbness and shock'.

Fr O Fearraigh said: “There’s a sense of sadness and sorrow and our hearts go out to this gentleman’s family, his colleagues, his workmates, his community as well as his extended family, and we offer our deepest sympathies and our heartfelt condolences to all of them.”