Investigators say two Irish schoolchildren who died over the weekend on the Greek island of Ios may have had their drinks spiked.
An inquest has now been launched into the deaths of two 18-year-old classmates, Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall.
Their deaths are said to have ‘traumatized’ their friends, who are returning home today.
The teenagers were on holiday after exams to celebrate the end of their secondary education with dozens of classmates from St Michael’s College Dublin when tragedy struck.
It is believed Andrew fell and hit his head on his way home from an evening along the cliffs of the island of Ios.
“He must have taken the wrong way,” police spokesman Konstantine Dimoglidou said after his sudden death in the early hours of Saturday.
Hours later, Andrew’s classmate Max was waiting for a ferry at the island’s harbor when he collapsed. He was rushed to a local health center, but he could not be saved.
It has now emerged that Max had already undergone heart surgery and was said to have been devastated when he heard the tragic news about Andrew.
Police spokeswoman Konstantina Dimoglidou told the MailOnline: “While the injuries on her [Andrew’s] the neck and the head suggest at first sight that it has deviated from its trajectory; that he tripped and fell, we also explore criminal negligence,’
“The drinks he and his classmates consumed may have been tampered with, leading to the state he was in when he left the bar early on Saturday to return to his hotel.”
Dimoglidou added that an autopsy due to be carried out in the port city of Piraeus on Tuesday would be “pivotal” in establishing the cause of death of O’Donnell and his schoolmate Wall.
School principal Tim Kelleher said: ‘They all want to leave. They were traumatized and people said I wanted to go home.
“South Dublin is a small parish, all the schools know each other, they play against each other, they are friends with each other, there are older siblings and friends all over the area who are deeply devastated.
“It’s a tight-knit community. When something like that happens there’s a lot of hysteria and a lot of fear and the parents ring the bell and everyone is traumatized, especially the boys who were with Andrew and Max. They are traumatized.
“They just want to go home and will all be home in the next 48 hours.”
Mr Kelleher described Andrew as a “fantastic young man, a great sportsman, a fantastic footballer”, academically brilliant and eager to start university.
He described Max as “very brilliant”, “passionate about rugby” and had “the world at his feet”.
He was “full of optimism and hope for the future,” Kelleher added.
Irish Tánaiste Micheál Martin said yesterday: ‘This is the most devastating and traumatic news a parent can hear and it is every parent’s nightmare and many of our sons and daughters are going overseas after the school leaving certificates and after the exams.
“Obviously a lot of their friends are over there in Ios and it’s a very, very difficult time for them now and we just ask them to take care of each other over the next few days and through the difficult time. coming.”
Dimoglidou added that an autopsy due to be carried out in the port city of Piraeus on Tuesday would be “pivotal” in establishing the cause of death of O’Donnell and his schoolmate Wall.
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