VIDEOS BRING BACK HORROR FOR VICTIMS RELATIVES
Videos bring back horror for victims relatives
OMAGH inquest
RELATIVES of the Omagh dead relived the horrifying aftermath of the blast which killed their loved ones when footage of the scene was played at the inquest into the massacre.
A clergyman said the bereaved attending the Coroner's Court experienced their most difficult moment of the hearing so far when it was shown unedited amateur video tapes of the minutes following the explosion which killed 29 people, including a woman heavily pregnant with twins.
But one said he was glad they were shown. Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Adrian, said he wanted "everyone in the country to see the video and see the true horror of Omagh".
He added: "Anyone thinking about putting explosives in a car and leaving it in a town centre should watch it."
A number of relatives of the dead and other victims of the explosion on August 15 1998 left the court, sitting in Omagh Leisure Centre, Co Tyrone, and while most watched from a family room, others elected to stand outside instead.
Jarring images of dead and wounded amid the smoke, dust and rubble of the immediate aftermath of the blast were played out, the sound of shop alarms blaring above the whimpering and cries of the shocked and injured.
One tape, recorded by an unidentified Australian, had never been seen in public before and carried his commentary, his voice sounded close to breaking, saying again and again: "I can't f. believe what I'm seeing here."
Panning over scenes which included a victim whose legs had just been blown off, he said: "You would not believe the carnage that is happening here.
"So much for the f...... peace process."
The man who shot another of the tapes, Pat McElhatton, said he could no longer walk down the street where the atrocity took place as he explained why he picked up his camcorder that day.
"I made the tape so the rest of the world could see what had been done.
"This is what a bomb does to people, it blows them apart and proves nothing," said Mr McElhatton (59) from Fintona, Co Tyrone.
Marion Radford, whose 16-year-old son Alan was killed, said she could not understand how another human being could inflict the devastation she had witnessed on the video.
She was in the town with her son and they were about to meet up again when the bomb went off.
She said: "I was very near him, I don't know how I didn't find him that day. I probably would have ended up in the mental hospital if I'd seen my child like that. Man's inhumanity to man is terrible. I just switch off to cope. I switched off when the bomb went off and maybe I have never switched on completely again."
Mrs Radford said that when she went home and thought about the videos: "I think I will feel in a despairing mood. It is very distressing to know that your child died in that and other people too."
It made her angry that people who could do such things could walk the streets but what she wanted out of the hearing "is to know that my child didn't suffer and that he died outright, I've been told he did."
Stanley McCombe, whose wife Ann, was killed, was one of those who chose not to watch the videos.
He said: "I'm glad I didn't watch it. I think a lot of the families are now very sorry that they did."
Mr Gallagher said the relatives who watched the videos wanted to do so in private so they could support each other.
"The third video was very graphic and very difficult to watch. There were some of the family members that really, really needed assistance. It was very difficult."
He said when he was watching the scenes, he tried to imagine where Adrian was.
"When I saw that smoke go up, that was his life disappearing. I don't know how long he lived for, I just felt that he was there and he wanted someone there to comfort him. It was a very, very sad experience."
Mr Gallagher was today due learn if local republican councillor Francis Mackey, chairman of the Real IRA associated 32 County Sovereignty Movement, is to be called.
The inquest is being held in the town's Leisure Centre which was used as an emergency centre for the relatives on the day of the tragedy.
OMAGH inquest
RELATIVES of the Omagh dead relived the horrifying aftermath of the blast which killed their loved ones when footage of the scene was played at the inquest into the massacre.
A clergyman said the bereaved attending the Coroner's Court experienced their most difficult moment of the hearing so far when it was shown unedited amateur video tapes of the minutes following the explosion which killed 29 people, including a woman heavily pregnant with twins.
But one said he was glad they were shown. Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Adrian, said he wanted "everyone in the country to see the video and see the true horror of Omagh".
He added: "Anyone thinking about putting explosives in a car and leaving it in a town centre should watch it."
A number of relatives of the dead and other victims of the explosion on August 15 1998 left the court, sitting in Omagh Leisure Centre, Co Tyrone, and while most watched from a family room, others elected to stand outside instead.
Jarring images of dead and wounded amid the smoke, dust and rubble of the immediate aftermath of the blast were played out, the sound of shop alarms blaring above the whimpering and cries of the shocked and injured.
One tape, recorded by an unidentified Australian, had never been seen in public before and carried his commentary, his voice sounded close to breaking, saying again and again: "I can't f. believe what I'm seeing here."
Panning over scenes which included a victim whose legs had just been blown off, he said: "You would not believe the carnage that is happening here.
"So much for the f...... peace process."
The man who shot another of the tapes, Pat McElhatton, said he could no longer walk down the street where the atrocity took place as he explained why he picked up his camcorder that day.
"I made the tape so the rest of the world could see what had been done.
"This is what a bomb does to people, it blows them apart and proves nothing," said Mr McElhatton (59) from Fintona, Co Tyrone.
Marion Radford, whose 16-year-old son Alan was killed, said she could not understand how another human being could inflict the devastation she had witnessed on the video.
She was in the town with her son and they were about to meet up again when the bomb went off.
She said: "I was very near him, I don't know how I didn't find him that day. I probably would have ended up in the mental hospital if I'd seen my child like that. Man's inhumanity to man is terrible. I just switch off to cope. I switched off when the bomb went off and maybe I have never switched on completely again."
Mrs Radford said that when she went home and thought about the videos: "I think I will feel in a despairing mood. It is very distressing to know that your child died in that and other people too."
It made her angry that people who could do such things could walk the streets but what she wanted out of the hearing "is to know that my child didn't suffer and that he died outright, I've been told he did."
Stanley McCombe, whose wife Ann, was killed, was one of those who chose not to watch the videos.
He said: "I'm glad I didn't watch it. I think a lot of the families are now very sorry that they did."
Mr Gallagher said the relatives who watched the videos wanted to do so in private so they could support each other.
"The third video was very graphic and very difficult to watch. There were some of the family members that really, really needed assistance. It was very difficult."
He said when he was watching the scenes, he tried to imagine where Adrian was.
"When I saw that smoke go up, that was his life disappearing. I don't know how long he lived for, I just felt that he was there and he wanted someone there to comfort him. It was a very, very sad experience."
Mr Gallagher was today due learn if local republican councillor Francis Mackey, chairman of the Real IRA associated 32 County Sovereignty Movement, is to be called.
The inquest is being held in the town's Leisure Centre which was used as an emergency centre for the relatives on the day of the tragedy.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0602
Published Date: 08-Sep-00
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