Police, ambulance and fire service crews were called just before 6pm to the fire at a property in Staffa Drive. Local independent councillor Rodney Quigley says Ballymena is numbed by the death of a young girl in a house fire. He said: "There's been a fatality, a 12-year-old girl has sadly lost her life in a house fire. "This is a horrible day for the Ballykeel area, the news we got this morning was bad enough, I didn't expect to be standing here this evening. A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said: "We got a call at 5.50pm today from Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) asking us to attend a fire scene in Ballykeel, Ballymena.

Source: Daily Mirror September 30, 2020 20:21 UTC