GARDAÍ ARE TODAY investigating the deaths of three people in the East Cork village of Ballycotton.

A man in his 40s died when his car crashed into a tree and burst into flames on the road between Ballycotton and Shanagarry, just over two kilometres outside the picturesque fishing village.

After the alarm was raised, Gardaí, the fire service and an ambulance crew attended the crash. The man, who has been named as John Butler, was declared dead at the scene.

When officers learned that the man’s seven-year-old daughter Zoe was not in school, they went to the family home and discovered the bodies of his two daughters. The younger sister, Ella, was two years old. The cause of death is not known at the moment.

RTÉ reports that the children’s mother had left for work in Cork city at around 7.30am, and Gardaí travelled into Cork city to inform the mother of the children.

The state pathologist, Mr Marie Cassidy, visited both scenes earlier this afternoon where technical examinations took place.