Trial hears of carnage at Omagh
Bodies floated down the street after the Omagh bombing blew apart a water main, Belfast Crown Court heard today.
One woman’s leg was partially cooked by the 1998 Real IRA explosion and another victim had his jaw blown off amid scenes of pandemonium in the Co Tyrone town.
The graphic details were outlined by police witnesses at the trial of Sean Hoey, 37, who is accused of murdering 29 people, as well as a string of other attacks.
Sgt Philip Marshall told the court: “The explosion had split the water main and it was gushing water, resulting in bodies being moved by the water.”
Many people were injured because the bomb warning on a busy August 15 had given the location of the 500lb car bomb in the wrong place and police had inadvertently herded shoppers and bystanders towards the seat of the blast on Market Street.
Constable James Morrell told the ninth day of the hearing: “I saw a woman sitting in the middle of the wreckage. I saw that her right leg was blown apart around the knee area.
“The lower part of her right leg was still attached. There was not much blood as the flesh and bone looked to be partly cooked.”
Emergency workers carrying the injured to Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh were turned away because the casualty unit was full.
Constable Morrell was forced to use nappies from a chemist in the town because they had run out of bandages.
Constable Gary McClatchey said bodies were strewn across the area.
“A number of people screamed. There was a lot of panic from people, mainly women and children,” he said.
“I recall seeing a body on the road, in the middle of the road. The whole of the bottom of his jaw was missing. It was obvious that he was dead.
“I saw a girl under the remains of a burning car, I think it was a front axle.
“The girl was trapped and was conscious. She was screaming.”
The bodies, which included a woman pregnant with twins, were taken to a makeshift mortuary at Lisanelly Army barracks in the town.
Constable Geoffrey Eakin recalled seeing a dead baby girl there.
“She had black curly hair, brown eyes and was wearing a white vest,” he told Mr Justice Weir.
He added that some of the dead were badly mutilated and one decapitated: “Body number seven had no head.”
Hoey, who remained impassive as the bloody details were read out, denies 58 charges surrounding the massacre and other dissident republican bombings in the months before Omagh.
He is an electrician from Molly Road, Jonesborough, south Armagh, and he has been in custody awaiting trial for almost three years.
His case is being heard without a jury under a system designed to eliminate jury intimidation.
Constable Douglas Stewart told the hearing of his visit to the grim holding centre for corpses.
“I recovered a small boy about 4ft tall, with fair short hair who was seven to 10 years old. He had blue eyes and was wearing an Aston Villa football shirt.
“Body number 17 was a well-built man, 6ft tall, with a brown jumper and beige jeans. He had short brown hair which looked shaved at the side but it may have been the explosion.”
That victim’s name was Aiden Gallagher, whose father, Michael, has led a support group for the many victims’ relatives.
The officer also described searching a bag and purse belonging to Esther Gibson, who was engaged to be married.
She had a silver spoon, receipts and a payslip and a bottle of perfume as well as an envelope for another member of her family. She was wearing a watch and an engagement ring.
The death toll was the highest for a single explosion during the conflict in the North. Hoey’s trial is expected to continue for several months.
| Related Stories: |
|
