Crime scene: Gardaí preserve the scene in Moatview Gardens, Coolock, where human limbs were found. Photo: Mark Condren

A major Garda investigation was due to begin this morning after dismembered body parts were discovered in north Dublin.

The gruesome find was made by a number of teenagers at around 10pm in Moatview Gardens, Coolock, last night.

Expand Close The scene at Moatview Gardens, Coolock. Photo: Steve Humphreys / Facebook

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Whatsapp The scene at Moatview Gardens, Coolock. Photo: Steve Humphreys

The Garda press office confirmed that a number of human limbs had been recovered in a bag.

However, sources said that no head or torso was found with the remains.

Detectives are also trying to establish how the body parts were brought to the location where they were discovered.

Officers were last night in the process of verifying reports that they were dumped from a vehicle which then fled the scene.

Expand Close Investigation: Forensic experts examine a bag believed to contain body parts in Coolock last night. Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook

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Whatsapp Investigation: Forensic experts examine a bag believed to contain body parts in Coolock last night. Photo: Mark Condren

The road where the find was made was cordoned off last night until the arrival of Garda forensic experts and the state pathologist this morning.

Investigators were due to carry out tests on the body parts this morning.

Gardaí will trawl through the missing person's database, in particular more recent cases, as part of their investigation.

One source told the Irish Independent last night: "There is a lot of speculation going around about who these remains belong to, but it is simply too early to say.

"Further tests will be carried out in the morning before investigators can start to build a better understanding of who these body parts belonged to."

A short time before the discovery, an unmarked detective car was rammed in the Coolock area during a pursuit of a suspect vehicle linked to a robbery.

After this incident, gardaí received reports of human remains being found nearby.

Initially officers believed this to be a tactic to divert them from the suspect vehicle, but after a Garda car was dispatched to Moatview Gardens the seriousness of the situation emerged.

A number of locals gathered in the area as news of the shocking discovery spread throughout the area last night.

One woman, who asked not to be identified, said: "I'm honestly not surprised in the slightest that something like this has happened here.

"Last year, a man from here was shot to death as children were walking home from school.

"The gangs here have no fear and wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who spoke out against them," she added.

This morning, a blue garda forensic tent covered the footpath at the junction of Moatview Drive and Moatview Gardens where the bag containing the body parts was found by curious youths who are believed to have opened it and made the shocking discovery.

Garda tape extended around the scene for a wide area, sealing off the junction and part of a green area.

Members of the garda technical bureau were due to arrive later in the morning to begin a forensic examination of the scene.

Locals going about their day to day business, going to work and bringing children on the school run, were left perplexed by the gruesome find.

"The first I knew about it was when the garda cars filled the area late last night. I thought there must have been a shooting. It's an awful situation," said one man.

A woman living close to where the body parts were found said she was horrified.

"You just don't expect to hear news like it. We don't know how this happened. Everyone is wondering who it is. It will be a shock for some poor family," she told Independent.ie.

It is believed the bag is a hold-all type rather than a bin liner, and contained no clothing or other material that could aid in the identity of the victim.

The remains are said to be from a recently deceased person.

Sources close to the investigation say Gardai are trying to establish if the bag was left at the location in a panic or as a gruesome message to an individual or group of people in the area.

DNA tests will be carried out in the remains later today in an effort to help identify the victim.

In the meantime, Gardai are appealing for anyone who has concerns for a missing loved one to contact them.

More to follow

Irish Independent