Child dies following Ballymena house fire
A child has died following a house fire in Ballymena.
The blaze happened in the Staffa Drive area of Ballykeel earlier today.
Independent councillor Rodney Quigley said: “This is just heartbreaking. The whole community is just numb.
“It’s such a terrible tragedy and my sympathies are with the family of the young girl who has died.”
The girl’s death comes just hours after a murder investigation was launched following a separate incident elsewhere in the Ballykeel area of the Co Antrim town.
Donald Fraser-Rennie, A 33-year-old, was found dead in a flat in the nearby Crebilly Road following what police described as a “vicious, sustained and violent beating”.
Mr Quigley continued: “I was talking today after the death of a man in a flat in Ballykeel. Little did I know I would be standing here today after the death of a young girl in Ballykeel again dealing with a tragedy.
“This is just heartbreaking.”
DUP councillor Audrey Wales echoed those comments, saying: “I would express my heartfelt condolences to the family involved, and my sympathies to the entire community who must be absolutely traumatised by what has happened in the last 24 hours.”