Thursday, 1 November 2007, 11:59 GMT
Women seriously injured in fires

Two women, including a 76-year-old, have been taken to hospital with serious injuries following separate house fires in the Lothians.

The pensioner suffered potentially serious burns after a bedroom at her Liberton home caught fire at 0250 GMT.

She was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary but later transferred to St John's Hospital, Livingston.

Another woman, 50, was taken to St Johns Hospital unconscious after a fire at a house in Kirkliston at 0545 GMT.

The blaze broke out in the living room of the terraced house in Maitland Hogg Lane.

The earlier blaze happened at a semi-detached house in Kedslie Road, Liberton.

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Fire Service said that before the arrival of firefighters and ambulance crews the pensioner's 50-year-old daughter had bathed burns on her mother's arms and applied dressings.

Both woman are being treated for severe smoke inhalation.