Police investigate links to six burns victims

Police forensic experts at the house on Foley Road in Co Armagh where a man (33) and woman (21) were doused with flammable liquid…

Police forensic experts at the house on Foley Road in Co Armagh where a man (33) and woman (21) were doused with flammable liquid and set on fire on Monday night. Photograph: Justin Kernoghan/Photopress Belfast

Four men are in a critical condition in a Dublin hospital this morning after suffering severe burns in a Dundalk incident that has been linked to an arson attack in Co Armagh.

The men, understood to be brothers, turned up at a hospital in Dundalk on Monday night with severe burns.

All four male man - aged between 24 and 34 - were moved to the specialised burns unit in St James's Hospital where they remained in a critical condition this afternoon, a statement issued on behalf of the hospital said.

Gardaí and the PSNI are investigating a possible link to the attack in Co Armagh on Monday.

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A 21-year-old woman is in a critical condition and a 33-year-old man is in a serious condition after they were doused with flammable liquid and set alight in an attack on Monday night near Keady, Co Armagh.

The couple were attacked by a gang of five or six men at about 8.45pm at their home at Foley Road in Tassagh between Keady and Markethill, according to the PSNI. Both they and the house were doused with flammable liquid, which was then set alight by the gang.

The PSNI said they were looking for six suspects in relation to the attack and were aware of the four men in hospital in Dublin.

Police have ruled out a sectarian or racist motive for the Armagh attack, but said they were following a definite line of inquiry.