Man caring for sick brother dies with wife in blaze

A retired couple were among three Irish people who died after a house fire on the outskirts of London.

The couple, from Cobh, Co Cork, had been visiting the husband’s sick brother in Hornchurch, near Romford, Essex, when a fire engulfed the house during the early hours of Monday morning last.

Joe Whelan, who once served in the Naval Service and his wife Ann, had gone to take care of his brother, Jim.