FRIENDS WHO LIVED AND DIED TOGETHER
Friends who lived and died together
By Peter McVerry
OMAGH teenagers Samantha McFarland and Lorraine Wilson died as they had lived - together.
The best friends had generously given up their Saturday afternoon to work in the Oxfam shop in the town centre.
Had the two stayed in the shop, they would have been safe.
The building suffered no damage in the explosion.
But the false warning meant the girls were evacuated down Market Street to their death.
Mabel Kennedy, volunteer shop manager for Omagh, said she would always remember the girls as helpful and generous.
She said: "Their thoughts were for others as they gave generously of their time during their summer vacation."
Betty White, a volunteer in Oxfam for ten years, also lost her brother Fred and nephew Brian in the atrocity.
Messages of condolence have been pouring in from Oxfam offices across the world, including Canada, France and Belgium.
Staff at the organisation's headquarters in Oxford held a minute's silence today in memory of the two girls and all those who died.
Samantha (17) had left Omagh High School last year to move to Strabane College to study for her A-levels.
High school principal Bill Harper remembers her as "an excellent student and a lovely person", who did all she could for charity.
Her 15-year-old friend Lorraine Wilson was about to begin the Final year of her GCSE course and had plans to be a chef.
Popular with her peers, Lorraine was a member of the school hockey team and had been predicted good grades in her forthcoming exam results.
By Peter McVerry
OMAGH teenagers Samantha McFarland and Lorraine Wilson died as they had lived - together.
The best friends had generously given up their Saturday afternoon to work in the Oxfam shop in the town centre.
Had the two stayed in the shop, they would have been safe.
The building suffered no damage in the explosion.
But the false warning meant the girls were evacuated down Market Street to their death.
Mabel Kennedy, volunteer shop manager for Omagh, said she would always remember the girls as helpful and generous.
She said: "Their thoughts were for others as they gave generously of their time during their summer vacation."
Betty White, a volunteer in Oxfam for ten years, also lost her brother Fred and nephew Brian in the atrocity.
Messages of condolence have been pouring in from Oxfam offices across the world, including Canada, France and Belgium.
Staff at the organisation's headquarters in Oxford held a minute's silence today in memory of the two girls and all those who died.
Samantha (17) had left Omagh High School last year to move to Strabane College to study for her A-levels.
High school principal Bill Harper remembers her as "an excellent student and a lovely person", who did all she could for charity.
Her 15-year-old friend Lorraine Wilson was about to begin the Final year of her GCSE course and had plans to be a chef.
Popular with her peers, Lorraine was a member of the school hockey team and had been predicted good grades in her forthcoming exam results.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0295
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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