JOLENE, JOLENE, JOLENE THEY CAN'T FIND HER
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene.. they can't find her'
THE GRIEVING father rocked back and forth, his arms folded tight calling for comfort that could not be found.
"Jolene. Jolene. Jolene." He kept repeating the name of his 17-year-old daughter.
"They can't find her." said Joe Marlow. "My oldest girl. She is not on any of the hospital lists."
He sat on a ledge outside Tyrone County Hospital and told of the torment of hearing the news on the radio while at home in Newtownsaville, about 10 miles from Omagh.
Mr Marlow and his wife tried in vain to call Omagh where Jolene, and her 15-year-old sister Nicola had taken their great aunt Bernie Shaw (75) on a shopping trip.
"The phone lines were down." he said. ""We just got in the car and headed for town."
All three had been caught in the bomb.
Nicola was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital with hand and leg injuries.
Ms Shaw, who was visiting from England, was in a nearby hospital ward with injuries to her ribs.
As the father of five - two girls and three boys - sat waiting, a young woman in a neck brace with blood on her T-shirt was led out of the front door by a nurse.
Mr Marlow spent the evening going between the hospital and Omagh Leisure Centre, where families gathered for information on their loved ones.
From time to time, someone called out the names of the injured and what hospital they were in. Hours went by and still Jolene's name was not called.
Kevin Skelton (44) was also among those waiting.
His forehead was bloodied.
His hands shook. Dark red blood was ground into his fingernails.
The senior GAA official from Tyrone had been caught up in the blast, along with his 39-year-old wife Philomena and daughters Shauna (13) Tracey (15) and Paula (19).
Peter Martin (21), Paula's boyfriend, was with them.
The family had gone shopping in Kells to buy school shoes for Shauna.
Mr Skelton left his family in Kells while he went next door to Mr G's discount store.
As he was leaving Mr G's. the front door blew in. Glass flew at him and cut his head.
He ran outside to look for his family.
"I didn't know where they were. We went in through what was left of the window in Kells. My wife was lying on the floor with the clothes blew off her.
"I thought I saw her two gutties under the rubble. I don't know. I tried to get her pulse. I couldn't. The policeman tried. Then two policemen dragged me out."
It was the last he had seen of his wife.
He burst into tears. "I am not expecting very good news." he sobbed.
"There is no list of her in any hospital or anything."
The couple had been looking forward to celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary later this month.
After the blast, outside on the street. Mr Skelton searched for his daughters.
"I was running up and down the town for maybe an hour and a half, looking."
Finally Tracey came running towards him.
"She had been at the back of a Kells shop talking to a friend and survived the blast, as did Pauline.
Shauna had been found in the middle of the road.
"Somehow - I don't know how - she is living. She was found lying on the street. She must have gone out of the shop."
She has cuts to her face and neck.
Her father found her before she was airlifted to Altnagelvin Hospital. The little girl was excited about the prospect of a helicopter ride.
Noone had told her about her mother.
Shauna's granny and aunt went to the hospital with her, while her sisters were comforted at home by relatives.
Mr Skelton sat with some friends in the cafeteria of Omagh Leisure Centre with images in his mind he can't erase
"No matter what happens to my family." he said "I've seen people lying on the street like ragdolls. I never will forget it."
The men talk about another GAA official Brendan. He too walked the streets searching for his children. Mr Skelton was told Brendan found them in hospital.
At the scene, a white tape is drawn across Campsie where onlookers stand several hundreds yards from the blast site.
Throughout the day in deathly silence, knots of men and women gather among reporters and camera crews.
Reporters arriving on the scene were warned by their shocked colleagues to expect terrible stories of mutilated children.
"It's horrific." said one. "And the hospital. It's like a war zone with blood all over the floor."
Those caught up in the blast recall the screaming, the sight of dismembered limbs and the smell of burning flesh.
One man, the manager of an Omagh shop, had helped the injured into his store van to be taken to hospital. Two buses had stopped to ferry the injured as well.
"We ran out into the street." he said. "We just saw limbs and bodies everywhere and black smoke.
"People were screaming. I saw one wee fellow. His leg was gone. We didn't see his parents.
"You wouldn't have recognised anybody. They were covered in blood. There were legs lying in the middle of the street."
Someone told him one of the dead was another shopkeeper, a mother of three grown children, found lying near the bomb scene.
He had no words to describe the bombers. But, in the midst of evil, he was touched by the goodness of those who helped.
"People were brilliant. They came in their cars to take people to hospital. We hadn't time to cry. We were just trying to help."
Standing nearby was a 21-year-old man who had been watching television in his Campsie home when the bomb went off just yards away.
He ran outside. "I saw people covered in blood. I saw one girl who had lost her hand. She was maybe 11 or 12. She was in a bad state, panicking.
"She was by herself, walking along the road. No one helped. I think everyone was scared of her."
John Wilson (60) feels lucky to be alive. He was on his way to the cashpoint when the blast went off.
'"I was on the ground. I didn't know what to do. It took a few seconds to realise there was a bomb. All I could see was a mass of smoke. I could hear screaming The screaming was awful, absolutely awful."
A proof-reader on the Tyrone Constitution newspaper. Mr Wilson fears he knows many of the dead and injured. His own family, he believes, is safe.
"When I saw my daughter. I just threw my arms around her I was just so grateful."
THE GRIEVING father rocked back and forth, his arms folded tight calling for comfort that could not be found.
"Jolene. Jolene. Jolene." He kept repeating the name of his 17-year-old daughter.
"They can't find her." said Joe Marlow. "My oldest girl. She is not on any of the hospital lists."
He sat on a ledge outside Tyrone County Hospital and told of the torment of hearing the news on the radio while at home in Newtownsaville, about 10 miles from Omagh.
Mr Marlow and his wife tried in vain to call Omagh where Jolene, and her 15-year-old sister Nicola had taken their great aunt Bernie Shaw (75) on a shopping trip.
"The phone lines were down." he said. ""We just got in the car and headed for town."
All three had been caught in the bomb.
Nicola was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital with hand and leg injuries.
Ms Shaw, who was visiting from England, was in a nearby hospital ward with injuries to her ribs.
As the father of five - two girls and three boys - sat waiting, a young woman in a neck brace with blood on her T-shirt was led out of the front door by a nurse.
Mr Marlow spent the evening going between the hospital and Omagh Leisure Centre, where families gathered for information on their loved ones.
From time to time, someone called out the names of the injured and what hospital they were in. Hours went by and still Jolene's name was not called.
Kevin Skelton (44) was also among those waiting.
His forehead was bloodied.
His hands shook. Dark red blood was ground into his fingernails.
The senior GAA official from Tyrone had been caught up in the blast, along with his 39-year-old wife Philomena and daughters Shauna (13) Tracey (15) and Paula (19).
Peter Martin (21), Paula's boyfriend, was with them.
The family had gone shopping in Kells to buy school shoes for Shauna.
Mr Skelton left his family in Kells while he went next door to Mr G's discount store.
As he was leaving Mr G's. the front door blew in. Glass flew at him and cut his head.
He ran outside to look for his family.
"I didn't know where they were. We went in through what was left of the window in Kells. My wife was lying on the floor with the clothes blew off her.
"I thought I saw her two gutties under the rubble. I don't know. I tried to get her pulse. I couldn't. The policeman tried. Then two policemen dragged me out."
It was the last he had seen of his wife.
He burst into tears. "I am not expecting very good news." he sobbed.
"There is no list of her in any hospital or anything."
The couple had been looking forward to celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary later this month.
After the blast, outside on the street. Mr Skelton searched for his daughters.
"I was running up and down the town for maybe an hour and a half, looking."
Finally Tracey came running towards him.
"She had been at the back of a Kells shop talking to a friend and survived the blast, as did Pauline.
Shauna had been found in the middle of the road.
"Somehow - I don't know how - she is living. She was found lying on the street. She must have gone out of the shop."
She has cuts to her face and neck.
Her father found her before she was airlifted to Altnagelvin Hospital. The little girl was excited about the prospect of a helicopter ride.
Noone had told her about her mother.
Shauna's granny and aunt went to the hospital with her, while her sisters were comforted at home by relatives.
Mr Skelton sat with some friends in the cafeteria of Omagh Leisure Centre with images in his mind he can't erase
"No matter what happens to my family." he said "I've seen people lying on the street like ragdolls. I never will forget it."
The men talk about another GAA official Brendan. He too walked the streets searching for his children. Mr Skelton was told Brendan found them in hospital.
At the scene, a white tape is drawn across Campsie where onlookers stand several hundreds yards from the blast site.
Throughout the day in deathly silence, knots of men and women gather among reporters and camera crews.
Reporters arriving on the scene were warned by their shocked colleagues to expect terrible stories of mutilated children.
"It's horrific." said one. "And the hospital. It's like a war zone with blood all over the floor."
Those caught up in the blast recall the screaming, the sight of dismembered limbs and the smell of burning flesh.
One man, the manager of an Omagh shop, had helped the injured into his store van to be taken to hospital. Two buses had stopped to ferry the injured as well.
"We ran out into the street." he said. "We just saw limbs and bodies everywhere and black smoke.
"People were screaming. I saw one wee fellow. His leg was gone. We didn't see his parents.
"You wouldn't have recognised anybody. They were covered in blood. There were legs lying in the middle of the street."
Someone told him one of the dead was another shopkeeper, a mother of three grown children, found lying near the bomb scene.
He had no words to describe the bombers. But, in the midst of evil, he was touched by the goodness of those who helped.
"People were brilliant. They came in their cars to take people to hospital. We hadn't time to cry. We were just trying to help."
Standing nearby was a 21-year-old man who had been watching television in his Campsie home when the bomb went off just yards away.
He ran outside. "I saw people covered in blood. I saw one girl who had lost her hand. She was maybe 11 or 12. She was in a bad state, panicking.
"She was by herself, walking along the road. No one helped. I think everyone was scared of her."
John Wilson (60) feels lucky to be alive. He was on his way to the cashpoint when the blast went off.
'"I was on the ground. I didn't know what to do. It took a few seconds to realise there was a bomb. All I could see was a mass of smoke. I could hear screaming The screaming was awful, absolutely awful."
A proof-reader on the Tyrone Constitution newspaper. Mr Wilson fears he knows many of the dead and injured. His own family, he believes, is safe.
"When I saw my daughter. I just threw my arms around her I was just so grateful."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0013
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
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