GARDAI were yesterday trying to establish the cause of a fire at a house in Ballymun, Dublin, which claimed the lives of a mother and her two year old son.
Ms Margaret Morgan (38) and her son, Lee, died shortly after being admitted to the Mater Hospital yesterday morning. Ms Morgan's other son, aged 9, and her 18 year old nephew escaped through an upstairs window. Both were hospitalised for smoke inhalation.
The fire broke out on the ground floor of 22 Shangan Green at about 7 a.m. A next door neighbour said she heard glass breaking at about 7.10 a.m. and went to investigate. Seeing smoke and flames coming from the sitting room of the house, she called the fire brigade and raised the alarm among neighbours.
A number of passers by broke down the door and then helped the survivors out through the rear upstairs window.
Four units of the Fire Brigade fought the blaze, but the ground floor of the house was badly damaged. The fire appears to have concentrated in the front sitting room, but there was severe smoke damage throughout.
Neighbours said Ms Morgan had only moved to Shangan Green six months ago, having lived in the nearby Ballymun flats for a number of years.
She had "never settled" in the house, friends said, and had been hoping to return to her former neighbourhood.
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau completed their investigations yesterday, but a spokesman said it could be weeks before they issued their findings.
A Garda source would only say that there was no indication of anything suspicious.
