Two men were still being questioned by gardaí in Galway last night following the discovery of a body in the back of a car almost nine hours after it was destroyed by fire.
Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis was carrying out a postmortem on the badly burned body yesterday at University College Hospital, Galway, and a Garda spokesman said the body had not yet been identified.
A blue Mazda with British registration plates was stolen from the Forster Street area of Galway city centre during a burglary sometime late on Friday night or early Saturday morning.
The car was later sighted after it was involved in a collision before 1am on Monday at the Morris Roundabout in Galway.
It failed to stop after it collided with a car, causing it to spin out of control and hit another vehicle.
The occupants of both cars sustained minor injuries and were treated for shock.
About an hour later Galway Fire Brigade was called to deal with a car on fire close to Rockland Avenue in Ballybane - not far from where the accident happened.
After the fire was extinguished, gardaí established that the vehicle was the stolen Mazda and removed it for technical examination to a Garda compound.
However, the body in the back seat was only found some hours later after the vehicle had been left to cool.
The body may be a man in his 30s who may have been asleep when the vehicle either caught fire or was set alight.
A Garda spokesman said that two men presented themselves at Mill Street Garda station at 10pm on Monday night, and after initial questioning were arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.
It is expected that the two will appear in court today.
The areas around the roundabout and at Rocklands Avenue were preserved for further technical examination by gardaí on Monday night.
This led to a series of phone calls into Galway Bay FM radio yesterday morning to complain about traffic delays.
An incident room was set up at Mill Street Garda station, and gardaí have appealed for information, including sightings of the Mazda over the weekend.
The vehicle's registration number is H53 BHM.
However, it is believed that the original number plates may have been removed and replaced with the British plates after the car was stolen.
Anyone with any information should contact the gardaí at Mill Street Garda station, Galway, in confidence, on (091) 538000 or 1800-666-111.
