Man critical after athlone house fire

A man is believed to be in a critical condition in hospital after a house fire in the Batteries, Athlone, last night (Tuesday).

Two units from the Athlone fire service were called to the scene of the blaze on Battery Road shortly before 9pm.

Fire officers using special breathing equipment recovered a man, who is understood to be in his 40s, from the rear of the house.

The man is said to have been uncounscious when the fire officers reached him but he was then revived at the scene by members of the ambulance service before being rushed to Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe.

A spokesperson for the Garda Press Office said this morning that it understood the man was still in a critical condition in hospital.