RUC investigates Craigavon fire after woman dies

Police in Craigavon, Co Armagh, are treating as suspicious an early-morning fire in which a woman died and a 17-year-old youth…

Police in Craigavon, Co Armagh, are treating as suspicious an early-morning fire in which a woman died and a 17-year-old youth was injured.

The fire, in a two-storey house in the Ardowen area of Craigavon, is believed to have started shortly after 7 a.m. yesterday.

Neighbours on their way to work in nearby Lurgan noticed smoke coming from windows and raised the alarm.

The fire brigade, police and ambulance were on the scene within minutes as local residents tried to rescue the occupants.

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However, they were unable to force open the locks on the front and rear doors. Firemen managed to rescue a 17-year-old, believed to be the dead woman's son, from an upstairs bedroom.

He was taken by ambulance to nearby Craigavon Area Hospital.

The youth was discharged from hospital yesterday afternoon after treatment for minor injuries. After firemen had extinguished the blaze the body of a woman was recovered from a downstairs living room.

She was taken by ambulance to hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

The woman was named as Ms Rosie Murray and it is believed she had lived in Ardowen for a number of years.

Throughout yesterday morning police officers carried out an extensive search of the house and a number of items were taken away for forensic examination.

An RUC spokesman said it would not be making any formal statement regarding the fire until a post-mortem had been carried out.

A spokesman for the local fire authority also refused to give details on the cause of the fire, saying only that the matter was under investigation by the RUC. However, local residents in Ardowen said the house had been the location for a number of all-night "drinking parties" in recent weeks and that a similar party had taken place on Monday night, only a few hours before the fire was discovered.

They also said the house was well known in the area as "a local drinking den". Last night the RUC had still not disclosed any further information on the death of Ms Murray.

It is expected that a full statement will be issued today