Heart attack, not fire, killed woman

THE brave attempts of neighbours to save an elderly woman from a fire in her flat would probably have been in vain, it emerged yesterday after an inquest heard she died of a heart attack almost immediately after the blaze began from a discarded match.

Rosemary Coombes, 85, was pronounced dead at the scene after being taken from her ground floor flat at Frankfield Terrace, Summerhill South in Cork city.

Deputy Cork City Coroner Philip Comyn heard evidence that firefighters who found her lying on the bed noticed cigarette butts and matches lying around it.