12-year-old son of Creeslough blast victim James O'Flaherty escaped injury by seconds

People attend a vigil at Market Square, Letterkenny, following an explosion at Applegreen service station in the nearby village of Creeslough in Co Donegal. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA

As the tight-knit community of Creeslough prepares to bury the first victims of last week’s devastating explosion, news has emerged of one young boy who lost his father to the blast but himself escaped serious injury.

Hamish O’Flaherty, whose father James died in the explosion, was sitting in his father’s Volvo in the service station forecourt at 3.20pm last Friday, looking out the passenger window.