The results of a post-mortem examination on a man who died in a fire in north Co Dublin yesterday were being awaited by gardaí last night. The man, who was in his early 40s, died in the fire at a mobile home at the Burrow, Portrane, Co Dublin.
The fire brigade was alerted at 1.45 a.m. and three units went to the scene. However, by that time the mobile home had been extensively damaged.
The victim, who had not been named last night, was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was removed to James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown. The cause of the fire is not yet known but the scene - a field where there are a number of other mobile homes - was preserved for Garda technical examination. This is the second fatal fire at a mobile home in the Portrane area in less than three months.
Last April, a man in his 70s died when fire engulfed his mobile home at a holiday caravan campsite in Beach Park, on the Burrow Road, Portrane. That fire also broke out in the early hours of the morning. Gardaí said, however, it was too early to say if the two fires were connected.
An 89-year-old farmer was killed when his tractor collided with an oncoming vehicle near Croke, Co Limerick yesterday. Thomas Downey, a local, died at the scene. The driver of the car suffered minor injuries.