A group of students attending an Irish summer college in the Spiddal Gaeltacht, Co Galway, had a narrow escape when a fire broke out in the house where they were staying which led to a man's death, an inquest heard yesterday.
Stephen Nee (47), Circular Road, Galway city died at St James's Hospital, Dublin, on June 7th, 2006, three days after the fire in Spiddal, in which he sustained burns to 85 per cent of his body, Dublin City Coroner's Court heard.
Mr Nee was staying with his sister Margaret Keedy and her husband, Martin, at their home following a night out when a fire, which destroyed the rear upper floor of the house, broke out in the early hours of June 4th.
There were seven teenage boys attending Irish college staying in the house at the time. A friend who was staying with the couple, Eileen Costello, raised the alarm at approximately 4.10am when she was abruptly woken by the smell of burning rubber and the shouts of Mr Nee that there was a fire.
Mr Nee and the Keedys had gone to bed just 40 minutes earlier.
Mr Martin Keedy told the court that he wasn't asleep long when Ms Costello woke the couple up and told them that there was a fire.
They cleared everyone out and while Mr Keedy initially thought Mr Nee was in the blazing room, when he went back in to try and rescue him, he met him in the hall.
"He just had his underwear on him and he was black. I just thought it was the smoke. He didn't look like he was burned - the shock, he just didn't know," Mr Keedy told the court.
Ms Keedy said that when she went outside she saw Mr Nee standing by the road. "He was black. He said 'I'm sorry Margaret. I'm sorry'."
The emergency services were contacted and Mr Keedy, who sustained burns to his back, and Mr Nee were removed to hospital in Galway.
Mr Nee was transferred to St James's Hospital where he died of multi-organ failure due to shock due to his extensive burns on June 7th.
A postmortem examination revealed that Mr Nee had suffered burns to 85 per cent of his body including 70 per cent complete burns, as well as soot deposition in his airways and lungs.
Garda Gerard O'Callaghan of the divisional scenes of crime unit in Galway told the court that gardaí were unable to determine the cause of the fire, but that there were no suspicious circumstances.
Deputy coroner Maria Colbert returned a verdict of accidental death.