Police felt ‘guilty and responsible’ for evacuating people closer to Omagh bomb

Twenty-nine people, including the mother of unborn twins, were killed when the Real IRA bombed Omagh in 1998 Picture: Paul McErlane/PA

The police commander in Omagh on the day the town was bombed has said many of his officers felt “guilty and responsible” that they had evacuated members of the public towards the explosive device.

Retired superintendent James Baxter also told the Omagh Bombing Inquiry of the trauma caused to victims due to more than 70 hoax bomb warnings in the town in the years following the massacre.