A long-awaited first holiday abroad turned into a nightmare for a group of young Derry men when another holiday-maker fell to her death, landing on the balcony of their apartment.

By Ursula Duddy

ursula@derrynews.net

The group of six friends, Kieran Logan, Gary Phelan, Niall Murray, Philip Duffy, Martin Bonner and Garrett Doyle, set off to Kusadasi in Turkey last month for what they hoped would be a fantastic holiday.

However, only a matter of hours after arriving at the Happy Apart Hotel in the resort, tragedy struck.

Trainee nurse, Mary Linanne, 20, from Belmullet in Co Mayo, plunged to her death on July 22, falling from the fifth floor of the apartments on to the Derry men’s ground floor balcony.

A member of the Derry group, Philip Duffy, spoke this week to the Derry News about their harrowing experience.