A teenage girl has told how she tried to comfort a dying man who became impaled on railings when he tried to escape an intense fire in a Limerick city centre apartment block.

Brian Power Close (31) died on Tuesday night after he landed on railings when he tried to jump from his fourth-floor apartment in Upper Cecil Street, Limerick, after a fire started inside the building.

Rebecca McCarthy (14) from Garryowen, was visiting a cousin and friends in the terraced building when the blaze broke out around 9pm. "It was terrible, it was the worst experience I ever had in my whole life," Rebecca said.

"We were walking by and my cousin was standing at the door and he invited us in for a chat. A couple of my friends were there also," she said.

"Next thing, a fella was outside shouting up at the window saying: 'There is a fire, there is a fire.' My sister went to open the door and a big puff of smoke came out, so we slammed the door and we all got out the window from the second floor," Rebecca said.

"We all got out safe and sound, but my friend Belinda (O'Sullivan) was back in there. Everyone was telling me not to go back in but I ran back in looking for her, but I couldn't find her.

"The fire was going the whole way up the stairs. She was up on a window-ledge and was too scared to jump, but the fire brigade got her down."

In the meantime, Mr Power Close tried to escape the blaze via a fourth-floor window. "He was trying to get out the window.

"Everyone was telling him to jump, but I started screaming: 'Don't jump, don't jump, wait for the fire brigade.'

"He jumped, but slipped and he fell on his back on to the railings. It was awful, I saw it all happening," Rebecca said.

"I ran over. Everyone was screaming and covering their faces. I said: 'Are you all right, are you all right, talk to me.' He looked up at me and said: 'Please, love, will you help me?'

"I said the fire brigade and the ambulance are on the way, just calm down and I will keep you safe. I was just trying to keep him alive, really. He was talking to me.

"He just said: 'Thanks for coming over to me, thanks for helping me, you are an angel'."

Mr Power Close was rushed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Dooradoyle, but died at around 10.30pm.

Assistant state pathologist Dr Michael Curtis was due to carry out a post-mortem last evening.

A 19-year-old girl, who was also in the building, was treated for smoke inhalation and is expected to make a full recovery.

A number of other residents, including an elderly woman, were also evacuated from the Georgian building.

Three units of Limerick City Fire and Rescue Service, along with a fire tender from Shannon, fought the blaze.

The scene of the disaster remained sealed off yesterday and garda investigations are continuing. It is believed that the fire started in a laundry room on the first floor.

"We are still trying to establish what caused the fire and at the moment we are looking at equipment in laundry room," said Supt Frank O'Brien from Henry Street garda station.

Source Irish Independent

Belfast Telegraph