Creeslough community living through 'a nightmare of shock and horror'

A woman hands out drinks and food to emergency service workers during the aftermath of the explosion at the local Applegreen service station in Creeslough. Picture: Charles McQuillan/Getty

The people of Creeslough are living through a nightmare of shock and horror.

These were the words of Bishop of Raphoe Alan McGuckian at a Mass in the small Donegal village.

This nightmare has, he told them, started “since the very heart of the community was deeply wounded on Friday afternoon”.

His words were similarly stark on Saturday evening after he lit the ten candles that still burn on the altar of St Michael’s Church.

Then he spoke of a “broken and bruised” community, as people struggled to come to terms with the fact that ten of their own had died.

Ten victims 

Gardaí have released the list of names of those killed in the blast, which could be heard from miles around.

Mother Catherine O’Donnell, 39, was with her 13-year-old son James Monaghan when both of them were killed.

Robert Garwe, 50, and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe are reported to have been in the shop to buy a cake for her mother when their lives were cut short.

Leona Harper, 14, was said to have been buying ice cream at the time with a school friend, who survived.

The others were named James O Flaherty, 48, Jessica Gallagher, 24, Martin McGill, 49, Hugh Kelly, 59, and Martina Martin, 49.

When he spoke to reporters on Saturday, Creeslough parish priest Father John Joe Duffy broke down in tears, as he recalled giving them Last Rites at the scene.

I knew some of those children through their school and the parish. This is unfair, it is unreal.

Gardaí continue to investigate all the circumstances into the cause of the fatal explosion. The investigation is being coordinated from an incident room at Milford garda station.

The Garda Technical Bureau, with assistance from other agencies, will continue to examine the scene, which remains cordoned off.

These examinations are likely to continue over the coming days, and traffic diversions on the N56 at the scene of the incident remain in place. 

Superintendent David Kelly of Milford Garda station said:

 At this point in time, we have to keep an open mind in how we investigate this, but our information at this point in time is pointing towards a tragic accident.

"That said, being a Garda I have to take a holistic and overall viewpoint, but that's where we are going at the moment. We are following certain investigative angles but for operational reasons, I am not going into that."

One man in his 20s remains in critical condition in St James Hospital, Dublin. Another seven surviving casualties continue to be treated in Letterkenny University Hospital, and remain in stable condition.

Funerals

The first two of the ten funerals will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

At 2pm Tuesday, the funeral of Martin McGill will be held in St Michael’s Church, with burial afterward in nearby Doe Cemetery.

Engineer James O’Flaherty will be buried on Wednesday.

The engineer’s removal from Mountain Top, Letterkenny, will begin at noon Monday to Roarty's Funeral Home, Derrybeg, Co Donegal.

His funeral Mass in St Mary's Church, Derrybeg, will be held on Wednesday at 11am.

His death notice said he is “deeply regretted and sadly missed by his loving wife Tracey, son Hamish, brother John and sister-in-law Serena and their children Amber and Ebony".

Details of the funerals of others who died are expected to be released on Monday and Tuesday.

It is understood the body of Jessica Gallagher was returned to Creeslough last night.

The funeral mass of Jessica, of Killoughcarran, Creeslough, will be held in St. Michael’s Church, Creeslough, on Tuesday morning at 11am.

The 23-year-old former fashion student had returned home to Donegal after living in Paris.

Her boyfriend Conor McFadden - who survived the blast - is critically ill in Dublin’s St James Hospital.

Jessica is understood to have been staying with Conor in one of the apartments by the service station.

Investigation

Detectives say they continue to investigate “all of the circumstances” into the cause of a fatal explosion very close to the Applegreen station in Creeslough.

Postmortems are expected to conclude today but gardaí have said results will not be released for operational reasons.

The Garda Technical Bureau, with assistance from other agencies, will continue to examine the scene, which remains cordoned off.

Friday's tragedy

Within seconds of the blast on Friday afternoon, and before machinery arrived to move debris, a frantic rescue operation began which saw men grasping at the rubble with their bare hands.

They soon formed eight to ten-man chain gangs, working from three locations around the stricken building, as they quickly passed bricks and rubble from the centre of the blast to the back.

A short while later, a company working in the local school brought up a teleporter, and the local quarry also brought up lorries.

Local farmers and builders also arrived on the scene with diggers, and farmers brought their tractors — all to help clear a way into those trapped inside.

Even as they worked, they tried to figure out from the cars in the forecourt and of people they knew, who were trapped inside.

Emergency workers worked throughout Friday night and into the early hours of Saturday searching for survivors. By yesterday afternoon, the rubble had been cleared and the focus turns to what comes next. 

Garda Superintendent Liam Geraghty said the incident will have a huge impact to a small rural community. “They are all local people,” he said.

“They are all very much involved in the community. They are all people who were shopping in their local shop.

We have very, very young children. Schools are going to be impacted. The GAA clubs are going to be impacted. The local church and general local community will be severely impacted by this. But it is a very strong community. The community will come together and will support each other.