A 12-year-old boy has died after a house fire in Galway city this morning.
The boy was in the house in Laurel Park with his 35-year-old mother and sister (10) when the alert was raised at around 3.00am.
Fire officers found him in an upstairs room and brought him to University College Hospital Galway where he died.
The woman and her daughter were also taken to hospital suffering from severe shock.
Billy Conroy, station officer at Galway City Fire Station, said the crew was en route to a road traffic accident when diverted to the blaze, with persons reported missing. He described how four fighters tackling the blaze discovered the boy's unconscious body in the semi-detached house.
"The fire had started in an upstairs room which was well alight when they arrived," he said. "Using a thermal imaging camera they searched the building and found the young fella in the room the fire started, but it was not his bedroom. "He was unconscious and had burns to his body.
"They worked on him with CPR until the ambulance crew arrived. They also assisted the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
"The mother and daughter were in shock and taken also to hospital.
"We had a chat with the crew afterwards and they were distraught. We will consider if they need any extra help over the next couple of hours or days. It is hard when they lose someone in a fire."
Mr Conroy said the fire itself did not spread from the room of origin, but the remainder of the house was smoke damaged. "We have no idea how it started," he added. "The Garda investigation is continuing."
The scene has been preserved for technical examination.