A youth's body was found by a water service worker checking out a derelict house destroyed by fire in Northern Ireland, it emerged last night.
Fire crews fighting the blaze in the Ardown area of Craigavon, Co Armagh, did not spot the body of 18-year-old Séamus Turkington.
They left the scene early on Saturday after putting out an intense fire, unaware there had been a casualty. But hours later the discovery was made during further examinations of the house, believed to have been used as a drinking den. Metal grills erected on the windows had been torn down. A fire brigade statement issued last night confirmed the tragedy only emerged after its crews had gone.
It said: "Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service were made aware that a body had been discovered in the property at Ardowen by a water service employee who had been sent to the property to isolate the water supply."
The service added that an internal probe has been launched.
A postmortem was being carried out on the body of Mr Turkington, from Drumbeg, Craigavon. Police said they were not treating the death as suspicious.