HOMEWARD IN AGONY FOR LOVE OF IRELAND
Homeward in agony for love of Ireland
By Clare McGahan
IT should all have been so very different.
The Spanish youngsters should still be enjoying the summer in Buncrana with their Irish hosts of many years, sharing laughs, cementing friendships, learning English.
Instead, on an air field yesterday, the desolate sight of eight Spanish survivors of the Omagh atrocity being tenderly placed on a hospital plane to return to their home-land.
Four more of the group - three girls and a boy - remain in three Ulster hospitals, too ill to make the journey home to Spain.
Their itinerary on Saturday took them to the Ulster American Folk Park, and on the way back to Donegal, a quick stop to shop in Omagh.
They were in the middle of the crowd when the bomb exploded.
The blast cost the lives of five members of the group - two Spanish and three Irish - Oran Doherty (8), Sean McLaughlin (12), James Barker (12), all from Buncrana, teacher Rocio Abad Ramos (23) and Fernando Blasco Baselga (12).
The bodies of the two Spaniards were flown home for burial late on Monday.
The sun was beating down at RAF Aldergrove yesterday but the mood was somber as ambulances pulled up close to the air force hospital plane.
First, the most seriously hurt of the party were gently transfered on board, small bewildered figures swathed in bandages on hospital stretcher beds. The casualties and their families spent 15 minutes chatting to the Prince of Wales, newly arrived in the province, who asked to meet the injured Spaniards.
Among those Prince Charles met at the medical centre at the base was Lucrecia Blasco Baselga (14), the sister of 12-year-old Fernando killed in the bombing, and her father, Manuel, who survived a terrorist car bomb attack by the Basque separatist group Eta in 1992. The walking wounded and around 15 family members boarded the aircraft which would follow close behind the plane carrying the most seriously injured children. As they boarded the aircraft the survivors and their families received words of comfort from their deputy prime minister, Francisco Alvarez-Cascos. He came to Northern Ireland on Monday to be with the injured and their relatives and to accompany the families of their deceased as they endured the ordeal of identifying the bodies of their loved ones.
Mr Alvarez-Cascos stood close to the runway and watched solemnly as the two planes took off, his hands clasped tightly behind his back, his eyes unmoving. He spoke of the optimism of the parents of the injured for the recovery of loved ones and praised the work of the medical teams who cared for them. He was accompanied by Alberto Aza, Spanish ambassador to the UK, who spoke of the warmth that the injured and the families feel for medical staff and others.
By Clare McGahan
IT should all have been so very different.
The Spanish youngsters should still be enjoying the summer in Buncrana with their Irish hosts of many years, sharing laughs, cementing friendships, learning English.
Instead, on an air field yesterday, the desolate sight of eight Spanish survivors of the Omagh atrocity being tenderly placed on a hospital plane to return to their home-land.
Four more of the group - three girls and a boy - remain in three Ulster hospitals, too ill to make the journey home to Spain.
Their itinerary on Saturday took them to the Ulster American Folk Park, and on the way back to Donegal, a quick stop to shop in Omagh.
They were in the middle of the crowd when the bomb exploded.
The blast cost the lives of five members of the group - two Spanish and three Irish - Oran Doherty (8), Sean McLaughlin (12), James Barker (12), all from Buncrana, teacher Rocio Abad Ramos (23) and Fernando Blasco Baselga (12).
The bodies of the two Spaniards were flown home for burial late on Monday.
The sun was beating down at RAF Aldergrove yesterday but the mood was somber as ambulances pulled up close to the air force hospital plane.
First, the most seriously hurt of the party were gently transfered on board, small bewildered figures swathed in bandages on hospital stretcher beds. The casualties and their families spent 15 minutes chatting to the Prince of Wales, newly arrived in the province, who asked to meet the injured Spaniards.
Among those Prince Charles met at the medical centre at the base was Lucrecia Blasco Baselga (14), the sister of 12-year-old Fernando killed in the bombing, and her father, Manuel, who survived a terrorist car bomb attack by the Basque separatist group Eta in 1992. The walking wounded and around 15 family members boarded the aircraft which would follow close behind the plane carrying the most seriously injured children. As they boarded the aircraft the survivors and their families received words of comfort from their deputy prime minister, Francisco Alvarez-Cascos. He came to Northern Ireland on Monday to be with the injured and their relatives and to accompany the families of their deceased as they endured the ordeal of identifying the bodies of their loved ones.
Mr Alvarez-Cascos stood close to the runway and watched solemnly as the two planes took off, his hands clasped tightly behind his back, his eyes unmoving. He spoke of the optimism of the parents of the injured for the recovery of loved ones and praised the work of the medical teams who cared for them. He was accompanied by Alberto Aza, Spanish ambassador to the UK, who spoke of the warmth that the injured and the families feel for medical staff and others.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0090
Published Date: 19-Aug-98
Related Images
