A man has died following an assault at a truck stop attached to a filling station in Fermoy on Tuesday night.

Gardaí in north Cork have arrested two men for questioning following the incident.

The deceased, a Polish man aged 40, suffered head injuries when he was struck with an iron bar during a dispute between himself and his Polish friend on one side, and two Polish truck drivers on the other.

The incident happened at the truck parking area attached to the rear of the Amber filling station on the Dublin Road in Fermoy at about 10.30pm.

The two men arrested are Polish truck drivers working for a Macroom haulage company. Photograph: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

It is understood that the deceased, a married father of two who was living in Fermoy, and his male Polish friend, also living in Fermoy, had been drinking in the town prior to going to the filling station.

They got into a row with two Polish truck drivers working for a Macroom haulage company who had pulled up to rest and the row escalated into a dispute in which an iron bar was produced.

The deceased suffered serious head injuries in the assault and although the emergency services arrived and treated the man, he failed to regain consciousness and died at the scene.

The second Polish man from Fermoy, who is in his late 30s, was taken to Cork University Hospital (CUH) suffering from non life-threatening injuries, mainly of a defensive nature, to his arms and legs.

Arrests

Gardaí spoke initially to the two truck drivers as witnesses but they were arrested at 4am on Wednesday for an offence of assault causing harm under Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

The men were then arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act which allows gardaí detain suspects for up to 24 hours and were taken to Fermoy and Mallow garda stations for questioning.

It is understood that the deceased was a married father of two, living in Fermoy. Photograph: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

The man’s body, which had remained at the rear of the filling station overnight has been removed to CUH where a postmortem will take place later on Wednesday by assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster.

It is understood that gardaí recovered an iron bar at the scene and that it will be examined later by garda technical expert s for any forensic evidence that may assist in the investigation.

Gardaí believe the four Polish men did not know each other prior to the row. Photograph: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

Gardaí have also started examining CCTV footage from the Amber filling station and have spoken to a number of truck drivers who were parked at its rear of at the time of the incident.

Gardaí believe the two Polish men working for the Macroom haulage company who are in their late 20s and early 40s, and the two Polish men living in Fermoy did not know each other prior to the row.