A community in Co Mayo is in shock as a young man loses his life early on Christmas morning. 

A young man in Co Mayo died tragically in the early hours of Christmas morning after suffering from head injuries. The incident is thought to have been a "freak accident."

Named locally as Christopher McNally, the 25-year-old was found in an unresponsive state by a neighbor outside his apartment in Newport at 1:30 am on Christmas Day. 

Gardaí are believed to be treating the incident as a "tragic accident." It is thought that the young man may have lost his footing and sustained critical head injuries when he fell. 

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"The family have been informed of this tragedy and it will probably be a day or two before we can establish what exactly happened," a source told the Irish Independent.

"At the moment it seems like this was just some freak accident. He may have fallen, but it wasn't from any height.

"It's an extremely sad occurrence, which is all the more upsetting that it happened on Christmas Day."

The Deputy State Pathologist Dr. Michael Curtis has traveled to the scene and a post-mortem examination was due to be carried out at Mayo University Hospital.

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