Bid to identify couple killed in house fire

Gardaí were today trying to identify a couple who died in a fire in Dublin overnight.

The blaze was reported at a ground-floor flat in a house on Ellesmere Avenue in Cabra after 10pm.

A man in his 40s and a woman in her late 20s died in the fire.

Garda officers were interviewing neighbours and appealing for witnesses to confirm the identities of the victims and establish the cause of the blaze, which fire officers said was small.

A Dublin Fire Service spokesman said: “The emergency call was received at 10.03pm. Four tenders, two ambulances and an advance paramedic team responded.

“A man in his 40s and a woman his 20s were found in the ground-floor flat of a house at Ellesmere Avenue.

“The man was taken to the Mater Hospital.

“There was nobody else in the flat.

“All fire service vehicles and personnel left the scene at 10.30pm and the investigation was handed over to the Gardaí.”

Garda forensic officers began a technical examination of the sealed-off scene near the North Circular Road this morning.

Post-mortem examinations on the bodies are due to be carried out later today.