Post-mortems were last night being carried out on the bodies of two people who died after a fire in a flat in Blanchardstown, west Dublin.
The bodies of the couple, a woman aged 26 and a man in his late twenties, were discovered in the apartment, in the Verdemont development at Snugborough Road, early on Monday evening.
A family member found the bodies and called the gardaí and emergency services. The bodies were found in separate rooms, the man in the bedroom and the woman in the bathroom. They have not yet been officially named by gardaí.
Friends and relatives visited the scene yesterday, laying flowers at the door of the apartment.
The cause of the fire has not yet been identified, but the fire service determined that there had been a fire in the kitchen, which appeared to have later extinguished itself due to a lack of oxygen.
An initial examination of the scene was performed yesterday by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
The bodies were removed from the scene early yesterday afternoon and taken to the James Connolly Memorial Hospital, Blanchardstown, where the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, was last night performing the post-mortems.
A three-year-old boy, the woman's son, was not in the apartment at the time because he was being looked after elsewhere. Initial forensic examination of the apartment finished early yesterday afternoon.
Supt Michael Roche of Blanchardstown said the inside of the apartment showed signs of fire damage. Windows were blackened by smoke.
The two-storey apartment, the construction of which was completed in February 2001, was part of an estate developed by McInerney Construction based in Waterford, which is a subsidiary of McInerney Holdings plc.
The company is one of the biggest home-builders in the State, and constructed more than 700 private homes last year.
The Verdemont development, which consists of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes, was built over the last three years. It is located beside the M50, not far from the Blanchardstown shopping centre.
A spokesman for the company said it had been in contact with the gardaí and the emergency services and it would co-operate in any way it can with the investigation.
The apartment had no gas supply.
Asked if the company would be carrying out its own investigation, the spokesman said: "We don't think so at this stage. We'll leave it up to the proper authorities, but will help in any way we can."
It is understood there has been no particular concern over the safety of these properties.
The fire service said the types of fumes generated from the fire depends on the material which is being burnt. People without oxygen quickly fall unconscious.
People have about three minutes in which they can be saved after they are deprived of oxygen, according to a fire service representative.