Kilkenny house fire claims three lives

Forensic examinations are being carried out at the scene of a house fire which claimed the lives of three people in County Kilkenny yesterday morning.

Sharon Whelan (aged 30) and her daughters Zara (aged 7) and Nadia (aged 2) are believed to have died from smoke inhalation when a blaze gutted the isolated farmhouse at Ruscon near Windgap.

Post mortem examinations are to be carried out on the bodies of the victims today.

It is unclear how the fire started, however gardaí are treating the blaze as a tragic accident.