A woman remains in serious condition in hospital in the aftermath of a tragic car fire that claimed the lives of two children, aged two and five.
The horrific incident occurred at around 4:00 pm on Friday near Multyfarnham, Co. Westmeath.
The mother of the two children, named locally as Lynn Egar, was airlifted to the hospital from the scene and is receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.
READ MORE: Garda probe into car fire deaths continue as post mortems on children completed
The children have also been named as Thelma, aged five, and Michael, who was soon turning three.
Both technical and forensic examinations of the scene continued on Saturday as gardai made enquiries by calling door-to-door as a Garda helicopter observed the scene from above for much of the afternoon.
It is understood that at this point, investigators are treating the fatal fire as suspicious, but no further information is available at this point.
In a statement on Saturday night, gardai continued to appeal for witnesses and said “the Incident room at Mullingar Garda Station can be contacted on 044 9384000, or contact the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.
“A Garda family liaison officer continues to keep the family updated at this time.
“The investigation is ongoing and further updates will follow.”
Father John O’Brien of Multyfarnham Franciscan Abbey told the Sunday Independent there is an “overwhelming feeling of shock and sadness” among the local community.
He said: “It is going to take a while for it to sink in. One woman who knew them told me they were lovely children and full of life. While any death is terrible, it is worse when it is children.
“A lot of people are gathering to talk about what has happened, mothers are meeting with their children and sitting in the gardens. There is that togetherness.”
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