TRIBUTES have been pouring in for Irishmen Joe McDermott and Gerry Bradley who were crushed to death by a concrete slab on a building site in Perth.
Joe McDermott, 24, from Omagh in Co. Tyrone, and Gerry Bradley, 27, from Coleraine in Co. Derry, were working on a construction site in the Western Australian city yesterday morning when the accident occurred.
It has been reported that they had stopped for a cigarette break at around 11.30am when a large concrete slab fell on them.
And their heartbroken families have spoken out on their loss.
“We are devastated by Joe’s death. We will always remember him as the bright and bubbly young man that he was,” the McDermott family said in a statement.
Mr McDermott is survived by his parents Tommy and Donna and his sister Lauren.
He would have been in Perth five weeks today.
Sinn Féin councillor Sorcha McAnespie knew Mr McDermott for several years.
“I would have been in the same social circles as Joe,” she told The Irish Post. “He was a lovely, lovely lad. He would nearly come into the room dancing, everybody liked Joe.”
A tribute left at the building site where the two Irishmen died. Picture: Twitter/@LGartryMs McAnespie remembered Mr McDermott from his involvement in the tight-knit Omagh community – particularly his involvement in the GAA club as a child.
“I was speaking to one of his former coaches yesterday and he remembered when they were on a bus back from the match and everyone was saying they scored 2-7 or 1-3 or whatever and Joe said he scored one point and the whole bus just erupted.
“That was the type of guy he was, everyone just loved him.”
In Co. Derry, Mr Bradley’s brother paid an emotional tribute to his “happy, friendly” sibling.
“He would be one of the few people I don’t know anyone who had a bad word to say about him. We can’t believe what has happened. He enjoyed life,” he told The Belfast Telegraph.
The apartment block on which the Irishmen were working with Jaxon Construction has been closed off while an investigation is carried out.
ABC News in Australia reports one witness as saying the concrete slab fell off a delivery lorry as it was being unloaded and landed on the two men.
Some of their fellow builders attempted to lift the slab but by the time emergency services got there, both had died.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland has said it is on standby to provide consular assistance if needed.
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