A mum was fighting for her life last night after she was seriously injured in a car fire that killed her two young children.
The woman, who is in her 30s, was airlifted to hospital following the blaze at Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath, yesterday afternoon.
A source said last night: “It’s a shocking tragedy. There is no evidence that the vehicle was involved in a crash.
“Now the investigation is focused on finding out what caused the fire.”
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Although emergency services rushed to the scene at Multyfarnham, the two children in the car died.
One, a girl of primary school age, was dead when gardai and firefighters arrived at the scene.
But the second child, believed to be a baby boy, was pulled alive from the car He was rushed to the Midland Regional Hospital in nearby Mullingar – but later died.
Sources last night told the Mirror that the car was discovered on fire down a rural roadway just after 4pm.
The sources also said that gardai have no evidence the car had been involved in an accident.
Officers were last night trying to establish how the car went on fire and led to the deaths of the two young kids.
A source told The Mirror that a passing motorist raised the alarm after seeing the car ablaze “It is a quiet enough country road,” a source said.
“The motorist saw the car was ablaze and called the emergency services.
“At this stage there is nothing to make investigators believe that there had been any kind of accident before the car went on fire.
“The investigation is only starting, so it is too soon to say what caused the fire.”
The mother was rushed by air ambulance to a Dublin hospital after she was found badly burned at the scene.
Sources say that although she sustained serious injuries, it’s understood there are hopes that she will pull through.
Sources said the family are believed to live in a village near Multyfarnham – and the community was in a state of shock last night.
Post mortems on the two children will take place at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore later today.
Garda experts from the Technical Bureau were at the scene last night.
Gardai confirmed last night that the incident happened at around 4pm.
A spokesman said: ”At approximately 4pm today, Gardaí and emergency services attended the scene of a car fire in the Multyfarnham area of County Westmeath.
“A female adult was taken from the scene by air ambulance to a Dublin Hospital for treatment to serious injuries.
“An infant boy was removed from the scene by ambulance to Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar.
“He has since been pronounced dead.
“The remains of a juvenile female were also discovered at the scene.”
The area was still sealed off as gardai searched for clues last night.
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