An elderly woman has died after being injured in a fire incident at her home in Co Cork late on Saturday night.
It is understood that the woman, who was in her mid-80s and lived alone, suffered from smoke inhalation when some items of clothing or fabric caught fire at her semidetached cottage at Monagoul near Ballymacoda in east Cork shortly before 11pm on Saturday.
The woman managed to raise the alarm using her panic button and gardaí from Youghal and local emergency services responded and attended to the woman.
It is understood the woman had suffered from severe smoke inhalation and, despite attempts to resuscitate her, she was pronounced dead at the scene. Her body was removed to Cork University Hospital where a postmortem examination will take place in the coming days.
Garda technical experts have begun an examination of the scene to try to establish how the clothing or fabric caught fire but foul play is not suspected. Gardaí will include the technical findings in a file for an inquest at the Cork county coroner’s court.
Local Fine Gael member of Cork County Council Michael Hegarty said everyone in the community was shocked at the news of the tragedy, and people’s thoughts and prayers were with the family of the dead woman.
It is the second fatal fire incident in Cork in the space of a week, following the deaths of husband and wife Willie and Geraldine Hawkes. The couple were in their 70s and died after fire broke out at their home at Raheen near Crossbarry in west Cork on the morning of October 20th.
Willie Hawkes was well known in farming circles, having worked until recent years in milk recording with Munster Bovine, while Geraldine Hawkes, who was known as Tina, had trained and worked as a midwife at the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork.
The couple will be buried on Monday following requiem mass at St Patrick’s Church, Knockavilla.