A PENSIONER was being treated in hospital yesterday for serious burns following a gas explosion at a house in the Donegal Gaeltacht on Sunday night.
Emergency services were called to the scene in the Cluain Baire area of Falcarragh at about 10pm on Sunday after neighbours heard a loud explosion.
The injured man was named locally as Conal McFadden (68), a retired Donegal County Council lorry driver. The bungalow was extensively damaged in the blast.
Gardaí were carrying out a forensic examination of the house yesterday, but it is thought the explosion was accidental.
Mr McFadden was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital before being transferred to St James’s Hospital in Dublin.
One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said locals were still in shock following the “massive” explosion. “We were in the kitchen of our house nearby having tea when we heard a massive explosion at around 9.50pm on Sunday night,” the woman said.
“There was a massive loud bang followed by a huge ball of fire which spread about 200 yards away from the house. My son and other neighbours went to investigate and they found Conal lying on the ground outside the house.”
Joe McTaggart of the Donegal Fire Service said tenders from three different stations attended the scene of the explosion. He said they believed a domestic gas cylinder was the source of the explosion, but they had yet to determine the exact cause of the blast.