Irishwoman seriously injured after dress catches fire at friend’s wedding in Spain

Department of Foreign Affairs providing consular assistance to 29-year-old who suffered serious burns

Nerja, Spain: An Irishwoman was seriously injured in a freak accident at a friend’s wedding in the eastern Costa del Sol resort of Nerja. Photograph: iStock

The Department of Foreign Affairs has said it is providing consular assistance to an Irishwoman who was seriously injured after her dress caught fire in a freak accident at a friend’s wedding in Spain.

The 29-year-old woman is in a specialist Spanish hospital after being engulfed in flames when her dress caught fire on decorative candles as she was in the bathroom.

Fellow guests dialled 999 after finding her semi-conscious at the event in the eastern Costa del Sol resort of Nerja.

She was initially taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Malaga where she is understood to have undergone an emergency operation before being transferred to a burns unit at Seville’s Virgen del Rocio University Hospital.

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The alarm is said to have been sounded just before midnight last Thursday following an Irish couple’s wedding celebration at holiday apartments in Nerja’s famous Balcón de Europa viewpoint area.

The couple reportedly organised an after-party below a terrace where they had previously tied the knot.

The injured woman has been described locally as a 29-year-old and is said to have suffered serious burns to her legs and body.

Medics at the burns unit where she is currently being treated have told local press they cannot predict her future evolution at this stage and her outlook “remains uncertain”.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that it was “aware of the case and is providing consular assistance”.

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns is a reporter for The Irish Times