GARDAI are treating as suspicious a house fire in Wicklow town yesterday in which two young men died.
The fire, in a flat on the ground floor of a house on Kilmantin Hill, broke out at about 5 a.m. yesterday.
There were reports that shouting had been heard at the scene at about the time the fire broke out.
The occupants of five other flats in the building escaped while an occupant of a Bed and Breakfast next door raised the alarm.
Firemen found the badly charred bodies of two young men in the downstairs flat. The two have not been formally identified.
They are believed to have lived locally but not to have been residents of the destroyed flat.
The fire brigade remained at Kilmantin Hill until about noon yesterday while gardai sealed off the building for forensic examination.
Local residents and family members gathered outside. A brother of one of the deceased is understood to be among those who escaped.
The bodies were still in the flat yesterday evening. Pathologist Dr Declan Gilsenan was expected to arrive last night to conduct a preliminary investigation, following his examination yesterday of the human remains found in Tralee, Co Kerry, on Saturday.
A post mortem examination is expected to be carried out at Loughlinstown Hospital, Co Dublin, today to establish the cause of death.
The fire comes four months after another major fire in the town, at a house in Wentworth Place.
Thirteen young people were treated for shock and smoke inhalation after the early morning blaze in March.
A local man, Mr Andrew Keogh, was among those evacuated from the Wentworth Place building. He said yesterday's fire "brings back memories for me every step of the way". "Everyone is in shock at this tragedy", he said.