A YOUNG Celtic supporter died and four of his friends were injured in a fire just hours after they watched their team win the Premier League title.
Firefighters found the body of 22-year-old Diarmuid O'Leary, from Ballybough, Dublin, lying in a bedroom of a guest house in Maryhill, Glasgow, shortly before 3am yesterday.
Four of his friends - ages ranging from 19 to 28 - were rescued and taken to hospital suffering from severe smoke inhalation.
The 51-year-old owner of Scott's Guest House, on North Woodside Road, was also taken to the city's Western Infirmary suffering from smoke inhalation. All five were in a stable condition last night.
Neighbour James McLoughlin, 52, helped to rescue one man by climbing from a top floor window and along the roof. The man had cut his arm after smashing the top floor window in an attempt to escape from smoke that was filling the room from the floor below. Mr McLoughlin said: ''He wanted to go back in again for his pal, but there was no way he could have done that or they would both have been dead. You have no idea what the flames and the smoke were like up there - thick, black smoke was pouring out. I got one lungful and that was enough.''
He said the five men were regular visitors from Dublin who often stayed at the guest house.
Mr McLoughlin added that two other members of the party returned from celebrating Celtic's win to find the building on fire.
Fire investigation officers and police forensic experts were examining the terraced house yesterday to find the cause of the blaze, which is believed to have begun in a first floor bedroom.
Senior Divisional Officer Alistair Macintyre said standard fire safety measures in the building helped other guests escape.
A report would be sent to the procurator-fiscal.
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