Irish national found dead in hotel room

CEBU, Philippines - An Irish national was found dead inside his room in a hotel along Osmeña Boulevard, Cebu City yesterday afternoon.

The lifeless body of Hugo Gerald Gallagher, 44, was discovered in a sitting position beside a bed with several bottles of wine beside him at around 2:40 p.m.

Gallagher, a native of Smithfield Road, Egroement, Ireland, had been staying at a room on the tenth floor of Crown Regency Hotel and Towers.

Police Officer 3 Nilo Aventurado of the Cebu City Police Office Homicide Section said there was no foul play behind the foreigner’s death as there were no signs of struggle or disarray of things inside the room.

Gallagher was found dead by hotel employee Ryan Coaca, who was doing his routine of checking the guests’ rooms.

Coaca reportedly knocked the door of Gallagher’s room several times but got no response, so he finally decided to open the locked door.

Based on Coaca’s testimonies, he usually finds the Irish man drunk with the same sitting position every time he checks his room.

The hotel employee reportedly did not bother at first but when he approached Gallagher, the victim was already not responding anymore.

Coaca immediately sought the assistance of the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation personnel who then assessed the victim as unresponsive.

According to Aventurado, the Irish national checked into the hotel on December 20 last year. The police have yet to check when he exactly arrived in the Philippines.

Aventurado said they recommend the body of Gallagher to be subjected to an autopsy. The police are still investigating the cause of the foreigner’s death. — Grace Melanie I. Lacamiento/NSA (FREEMAN)