Gardaí have launched a murder investigation into the deaths of a four-year-old boy and a woman in her 60s in a fire at a house in Co Offaly on Saturday evening.
The two victims are believed to have been related.
The attack on the family home in Edenderry is being treated as arson, and one line of inquiry is that those responsible are involved in the drugs trade in the Midlands.
Arson was the main line of inquiry almost immediately the emergency services were alerted to the fire in Edenderry on Saturday night.
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Garda headquarters has now confirmed the house came under attack and that a double murder inquiry has begun.
A third person, a woman in her 50s, is receiving hospital treatment for serious injuries.
“An Garda Síochána believes that the house was attacked by a person or persons unknown at this time, and that the fire was deliberately started,” Garda headquarters said on a statement on Sunday afternoon. “This was a reckless, callous and murderous attack on a family home.”
The emergency services were alerted to the fire at the end-of-terrace house on Castleview Park at about 7.45pm.
An emergency-services team comprising personnel from the Offaly Fire and Rescue Service, National Ambulance Service and Garda responded, with the blaze brought under control. However, it appears the two victims were trapped in the property, and their remains were found inside after the fire had been extinguished.
Arson was the main line of inquiry almost immediately after the emergency services were alerted to the fire on Saturday night.
Gardaí declared the house a crime scene and it is being examined by the Garda Technical Bureau.
The local coroner and State Pathologist have been called, gardaí said. The victims’ remains have been removed from the scene and a postmortem was due to be carried out by Assistant State Pathologist Margot Bolst on Sunday afternoon.
The murder investigation is being co-ordinated from Tullamore Garda station, where detectives are appealing for anyone with information to speak to them. They are also keen to speak to anyone who was in the vicinity of Castleview Park or nearby roads between 7pm and 8pm on Saturday.
