Irish beach tragedy for two sisters

Summary of story from Belfast Telegraph, March 19 2011

Police are treating the deaths of two sisters whose bodies were found on an Irish beach as a tragic accident.

The grim discovery was made at White Strand, a scenic tourist spot close to Miltown Malbay, County Clare on Friday morning.

Gardai said the women were believed to be from Wales and were touring the area.

Superintendent Colm O’Sullivan, from nearby Ennistymon Garda Station, said the cause of the accident was not clear but one of the women may have attempted to help the other in difficulty.

“That’s what we think happened, that one of them fell,” he said. “There was a slipway going down to a beach, and we don’t know whether one of them was swept off this pier because the seas were rough at the time.

“We don’t know whether one was swept off, or fell, and the other one went to her assistance.”