Five hospitalised after fire at Dublin hostel

Five people were taken to hospital suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation following a fire at a Dublin hostel.

Five people were taken to hospital suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation following a fire at a Dublin hostel.

The alarm was raised when the fire broke out at the building on Portland Row, near Mountjoy Square in the north inner city, shortly before 1.00 am.

The hostel, which is understood to have been occupied by around 50 people, many of them foreign nationals, was evacuated.

Eleven units of the Dublin Fire Brigade attended the scene, rescuing around 20 people from the burning building. A ladder on top of a fire tender was used to help three people escape from the upper floors.