Four men in hospital after fire attack

Four men were seriously ill in hospital in the Republic tonight as police in the North widened their search for those who carried out a horrific attack on a couple who were set alight.

Doctors were fighting to save the life of a 21-year-old woman after she and her boyfriend were doused with petrol and set on fire by a gang in their south Armagh home.

The injured men, understood to be brothers, appeared at a hospital in Dundalk, Co Louth, late last night about an hour after the couple were targeted across the border in the village of Keady.

Three of the men – aged between 24 and 34 – have since been moved to the burns unit of St James Hospital in Dublin for specialist treatment. The fourth was tonight being transferred from intensive care in the Louth hospital to Dublin.

Police in Northern Ireland said they were looking for six suspects in relation to the attack and were aware of the four men in hospital in the Republic.

The Garda confirmed the PSNI had sought their assistance in relation to the attack, but refused to say whether they were standing guard over the men in hospital.

Lisa McClatchey, 21, was critically ill in hospital with severe burns after fleeing her home in flames. Her partner, Thomas O’Hare, 33, had to be pulled clear of their burning home by neighbours.

He suffered serious burns but was in a less serious condition than his partner.