Gardaí have confirmed that a body discovered on rocks on one of the Aran Islands last Friday is that of a man who fell into the sea in Clare two weeks earlier.
The search for the 45-year-old Russian national, named locally as Andrey Maltsev, was stood down last night after gardaí confirmed they had formally identified the remains.
Mr Maltsev, who had been living and working in Limerick, fell into the sea off rocks at the notorious Blue Pool near Doonbeg on September 16th last. He had been shore angling with a friend when tragedy struck.
Divers from the Naval Service and Garda Water Unit, along with members of five sub aqua clubs, carried out comprehensive searches over a number of days.
After diving operations had been completed, Coast Guard volunteers from Kilkee, Doolin, Kilalloe and Ballybunion in Kerry continued to undertake daily cliff and shoreline searches.
The Shannon based search and rescue helicopter and Clare Civil Defence teams also assisted in the operation.
While a body was washed up on the shoreline at Inishmaan on Friday evening last, 40kms due north of where he fell into the sea, the search continued in Co Clare until formal identification of the remains was confirmed.
A postmortem examination was carried out at University Hospital Galway and following tests, the identity of the body was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. Gardaí from Kilrush travelled to Limerick to inform the victim’s family.
The search had been going on for 18 days.