A 3-month-old baby girl has passed away after a dog went upstairs in the morning and attacked her while she was sleeping in her bed.
Mia O’Connell, the baby girl, was in her bed in a terraced house when the canine went upstairs.
At around 2 am in the morning, the dog attacked her.
Emergency services were called at the scene and they rushed her to the Cork University Hospital with severe injuries.
She was pronounced dead in the hospital some time later.
The house, which is located in Clashmore, Co Waterford, has been sealed off for a forensic examination by the Garda Technical Bureau.
An inquest will be held at a later date at the Coroners’ Court.
The little girl was born in February this year.
Her parents, Rhys O’Connell and Ella Wood, got engaged last New Year’s Eve.
Locals were shocked after they got to know what happened.
Pat Flavin, said that the family were in the thoughts and prayers of everyone in the area.
Pat said:
You hear this kind of thing on television but you don’t expect it to happen here. There are about 1,800 people in this area. It is a small place. Everyone will support them and do what they can for them.
Pat Nugent, a local councillor, said that the horrible incident happened after a day off festivities in the village, Clashmore.
Talking about the incident, they said:
This is the last thing you would expect to wake up to on a bank holiday morning. We had such a lovely day in the village of Clashmore yesterday. We had a cancer appeal and the [Gaelic Athletic Association] club was involved in it and we had vintage cars and a tractor run. People were out walking. It was back to a bit of normality. The family aren’t very well known because they are renting and new to the area. We had a lovely mass yesterday morning. Little did we know that a tragedy would occur within 24 hours. It is a lovely village. The houses (where the tragedy occurred) are about 15 years old. Three or four of them were sold and the rest are rented out.
No other information was released by the authorities about the horrifying incident.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the baby, may their soul rest in peace.