A second member of a family caught in a horrific house fire in Northern
Ireland lost her fight for survival today.
Eight-year-old Catherine O'Boyle died in Antrim Area Hospital where she was admitted after she was trapped upstairs in the family home in Toomebridge during a blaze.
Her 12-year-old sister Ann Marie died yesterday, while another three-year-old sister remains in a critical condition in Belfast.
Ann Marie's 13-year-old friend, who was visiting when the fire broke out in the living room, was also being treated in hospital. She too is reported by medical staff to be in a critical condition.
A 17-year-old youth, who was also in the house, was being kept under observation at the Antrim Hospital.
Police kept the scene sealed off overnight and were carrying out a detailed examination to establish the cause of the fire today.
However all indications were that it was nothing more sinister than a terrible accident, possibly caused during the lighting of the open fire in the living room.
The children were dragged from the blazing house outside Toomebridge by neighbours, including farmers who had been working in a nearby field who used a tractor to rescue some of the children from the first floor of the house.
They were trying to resuscitate the youngsters when firemen arrived and took over until paramedics reached the scene.
A spokesman for the Fire Service said their officers provided mouth to mouth resuscitation and heart massage until paramedics arrived.
PA