A FAMILY whose Co Galway home was struck by lightning had an extraordinary escape early yesterday morning.
The father and four children, aged between six and 14, managed to scramble to safety through windows when the roof and walls caved in after the lightning struck at about 12.45 a.m.
Det Garda Pat Cormican, of Maree, Oranmore, and his children were asleep in the house at the time.
The children's mother, Ms Marie Cormican, was working away from the home at the time and went quickly to the scene.
As she surveyed the wreckage yesterday, Ms Cormican said it looked as though a bomb had hit the place.
"The whole roof caved in and all the walls came in on top of the children," she added. "We are lucky that they managed to get out alive. Nobody can believe that they got out of there."