Girl, 9, rescued by neighbour following suspected petrol bomb attack in Cork

A neighbour rushed to help the family who were trapped upstairs by the fire in the Clarkes Road area of Ballyphehane

Screams and thick black smoke alerted neighbours to the fire after 6am and people rushed to help. The little girl was screaming for help from an upstairs window.

A child and her older brother were rescued from their burning home after it was targeted in a suspected petrol bomb attack in Cork.

Neighbours rushed to help the nine-year-old girl and her brother, aged in his 20s, who were trapped upstairs by the fire in the Clarkes Road area of Ballyphehane, Cork City, on Monday morning at approximately 6.35am.

Screams and thick black smoke alerted neighbours to the fire after 6am and people rushed to help. The little girl was screaming for help from an upstairs window.

One passerby tried to break the door in to help the family.  The house was “a ball of flame”, one neighbour said.

Passersby shouted for the man to drop the girl to those trying to catch her below. “If he didn’t drop her out the window, she was going to die,” a neighbour said.

The girl was caught by neighbours and carried away to safety.

The man then jumped out the window and was helped by passersby before an ambulance arrived.

Neighbours  said they did what anyone would do if they saw a house on fire and people trapped inside.

“We just tried to save them and get them to safety,” said one person who helped.

Cork Fire Brigade arrived quickly at the scene and put out the fire.

The man and his younger sister, as well as another male in his 50s were taken to Cork University Hospital for treatment of injuries, gardaí confirmed.

All three were treated for smoke inhalation but did not suffer serious burns, it is understood.

The fire started at the front door of the house. The house sustained significant fire damage downstairs with smoke damage through the rest of the home.

Gardaí confirmed that the incident was suspicious and described it as “criminal damage by fire". A technical examination of the scene has been conducted.

It is the second arson attack on a family home in Cork city in seven days.

A 13-year-old boy and his mother, in her 40s, escaped a fire at their home at Silverbirch in Rochestown at about 12.30am last Monday, February 16.

The child's brother, a 24-year-old man, jumped from an upstairs window of the home to escape the fire, injuring his legs and breaking his ankle in the fall.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses following the suspected arson attack in Ballyphehane.

Anyone who was in the Clarkes Road area between 6am and 7am on Monday and who may have any information is asked to contact investigating Gardaí. Anyone with camera footage (including dash-cam) is asked to make that footage available.

Gardaí can be contacted at Bridewell Garda Station on 021 4943330, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

Investigations are ongoing.