Tragic moment Irish students lined the street to form guard of honour on Ios

These are the moving images of Irish students forming a guard of honor as the bodies of their two friends leave the Greek island of Ios.

Dozens of pupils lined a road leading to the harbor when the bodies of Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall, both 18, were taken on a ferry to Athens for post-mortems to determine the exact cause of death.

With heads bowed solemnly, many of the youths were students at St Michael’s College, Dublin, where the two young men were studying.

They were part of a larger group of students from schools across Ireland. They were on vacation after their exams to Ios to mark the end of their high school.

Some students placed yellow roses on the hearses of the two students as a token of their friendship, while others wept as their bodies were taken from Ios Health Center to the port a short distance away on Tuesday.

Heads solemnly bowed, many of the youths were pupils of St Michael’s College, Dublin, where the two young men also studied

Some students placed yellow roses on the two students’ hearses as a token of their friendship

Andrew O’Donnell (left) and his classmate Max Wall (right), both 18 and from the same school, died in separate tragic incidents over the weekend

Andrew and Max’s parents were also in Ios and accompanied their coffins to Athens. They are waiting for the results of the autopsy examination, which are not expected for ten days.

Greek officials revealed that initial findings showed Andrew died after falling and sustaining a head injury. His body was discovered early Sunday afternoon on a rocky slope near the port area.

Max is said to have had a heart attack an hour later after hearing the news while walking in the harbor area and collapsed at the entrance of an alley.

Officials said toxicology tests will also be conducted. Andrew is said to have spent a night out with friends in Hora, which is full of bars and clubs selling cheap drinks, before being separated from them.

He went missing early Saturday and was discovered on a rocky slope meters from a hospital and a busy main road more than 24 hours after he was first reported missing.

His body was found in undergrowth just below a popular five-star hotel overlooking the port of Ios. It is one of the busiest places on the popular Greek holiday island – an area that the Greek police had already searched but failed to find.

The desperate search of the island also involved his classmates.

Max Wall died shortly after hearing the news from the shock, it is understood. He was found at the entrance of an alley near the city’s harbor.

Andrew O’Donnell, 18, was found dead in undergrowth (left) just below a popular five-star hotel and overlooking the port of Ios. A few hours later, his friend Max Wall collapsed and was found at the entrance of a narrow alley in the port area of ​​Ios (right)

A bouquet of flowers lay at the top of the slope where Andrew was found on Sunday

Searching for Andrew, officers initially searched the area on Sunday morning after being informed by his friends that he was missing after separating from them while they were in the port of Ios, where there are bars and restaurants.

They returned to the area later that day and discovered Andrew’s body around 1 p.m.

He was rushed to Ios Health Center, the island’s only hospital meters away, where he was pronounced dead.

An Ios Port Police officer told MailOnline: “We began our search 24 hours after Andrew disappeared, which is standard operating procedure. We concentrated on the slopes around the harbor area but found nothing and then turned back for a second time.

“His body was hidden in the bushes and was not visible from a path that runs along the top of the slope. There’s a luxury hotel there and houses along it, so it’s a very well-used trail and it was easy to miss the first time.’

Another Port Police officer who said he was part of the team that discovered Andrew’s body said: ‘We initially walked all the way up the slope and couldn’t see anything. His body lay in the undergrowth.

“The sad thing is that while the police and Andrew’s friends were looking for him, he wasn’t in a remote location and was close to all of us, but we didn’t know this.”

A simple bouquet of flowers lay at the top of the slope where Andrew was found.

His friend Max collapsed and died at 2pm on Sunday at the entrance of a narrow alley in the port area of ​​Ios, just an hour after news of Andrew’s death came out.

It is believed he died of shock and according to reports, the youngster had a history of heart problems and spent all day looking for his friend.

Most of the two boys’ friends are said to have left Ios, many traveling to Athens on Tuesday with their coffins where an autopsy will take place to determine their exact cause of death.

But hundreds of Irish youths have remained on Ios, where they traveled like Andrew and Max to mark the end of their high school.

Many expressed their anger at the news that Andrew was discovered in a busy area of ​​Ios and just a ten-minute walk from Hora, the island’s capital, which is bustling with bars and nightclubs.

Toby Moriarty from Dublin said: ‘Of course it shocked us all, but we’d like to know why it took the police so long to find him? It’s terrible that they had already searched the area where he was finally found.

“I think the Greek police should have searched for him sooner because it was pretty obvious something was wrong.”

Sheila Walsh, 18, said: ‘My heart goes out to the family and given where Andrew was found I don’t think the Greek police have done a very good job. He was right under their noses, and they didn’t even realize it.

“It’s a bit of a joke if you ask me and I don’t know why they had to wait 24 hours before looking for him?”

Flowers lie at the site where Andrew O’Donnell was found on Sunday

The parents of both Andrew and Max arrived in Greece on Tuesday to receive autopsy results and take home their sons’ remains.

Medical examiners who conducted the tests found no signs of foul play.

Earlier reports suggested police were preparing to investigate whether their drinks had been spiked, but police spokesman Konstantina Dimoglidou told MailOnline yesterday that any lines of inquiry will depend on the results of the post-mortem, which suggest no foul play was involved by the boys . deaths.

Fellow students formed a guard of honor as police transported the boys’ bodies from Ios to Athens before they were flown to Ireland with their grieving families.

Andrew’s father Gavin would be distraught, a close friend of the family who wished to remain anonymous told MailOnline.

Gavin described Andrew as his ‘darling’ in a message to me.

Andrew was rushed to Ios Health Centre, the island’s only hospital, where he was pronounced dead

The spot where Max was found around 2pm on Sunday, shortly after his friend Andrew was found dead

“Gavin is a very generous man, as is all of his family. He is very proud of this college and as an Alma mater.

“Andrew’s grandfather Joe is a doctor and they are both very proud of Andrew, who was in the prime of his life. This is such a devastating tragedy.

“There I go for the grace of God. It’s such a shock,” said the family friend.

“It’s just inexplicable. He and Max were so young. We just don’t know why this happened. We all mourn for both families.”