2 men have died in a fire at an apartment block in Cork.

The fire broke out at the apartment at Granary Court on St Joseph's Road in Mallow at around 10-past 12 last night and the emergency services were alerted.

Gardai who rushed to the scene rescued a man and a woman from inside and attempted to re-enter the building but were unable to because of the smoke and flames.

The bodies of two men- both aged 36 & 37 -  were found later.

The other man and woman were taken to Cork University Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

It's understood that one of the dead men is from Dublin and the other is from Mallow - but it's unclear if they were living or visiting the apartment where a party was taking place.

Both of the men were pronounced dead at the scene and their bodies have been removed to Cork University Hospital.

Gardai are due to carry out a technical examination to establish the cause of the blaze - but at this stage, they don't believe there is anything suspicious about the fire.