OMAGH WAS A DISASTER OF BATTLEFIELD PROPORTIONS
Omagh was 'disaster of battlefield proportions'
Surgeon recalls the horror that confronted him in hospital
BY LESLEY-ANNE HENRY
lhenry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
A SENIOR surgeon at Tyrone County Hospital said the Omagh bombing was a "disaster of battlefield proportions" a Belfast court heard yesterday.
In a statement given during day two of a multi-million pound civil action being brought by families of six victims, consultant surgeon Dr Dominic Pinto said he would be forever haunted by the scenes of horror and devastation that greeted him on August 15, 1998.
Dr Pinto, who worked in Uganda during Idi Amin's reign of terror and had treated many victims of terrorist violence, described the carnage that Saturday afternoon as "unprecedented".
Twenty-nine people died and more than 200 others were injured when the car bomb exploded on a busy shopping street.
In an emotional statement read out by counsel for the families Brett Lockhart QC, Dr Pinto said: "Omagh was unique because of the sheer scale of devastation and aftermath.
"August 15 was unprecedented not only for the town but for me."
He recalled how he had been playing golf but heard the bomb and immediately rushed to the hospital. On arrival he said he was not prepared for what met him.
"As soon as I opened the doors leading to Accident and Emergency I could see the scale of what we were going to have to tend to.
"It was sheer pandemonium. This was not a major incident, but a disaster of battlefield proportions."
Dr Pinto, who treated hundreds of the most seriously wounded, said he had reviewed a major incident policy just weeks before.
But the court heard that the bomb had severely damaged the town's telecommunications system, which meant the hospital could not communicate with other emergency services and did not know the extent of the trauma.
Resources at the small general hospital were stretched to their limits on the day of the bomb, it was claimed.
"The badly injured just kept coming," said Dr Pinto. "Accident and Emergency was overflowing. People were lying in corridors, radiology was full." He noted that other wards which had been cleared were also filling up with casualties.
All off duty staff were called into work, while other medics, including many of the town's GPs, offered help. A surgeon and anaesthetist made an 80-mile journey from Sligo to help.
Dr Pinto said he would never forget the 18 month-old baby who could not be resuscitated; the 10-year-old boy who bled to death or the young lady that he pronounced dead and who later turned out to be the daughter of a close friend.
Another victim, the daughter of a hospital colleague, was left blinded after shrapnel was lodged between her eyes in the bridge of her nose.
Earlier in the day, four police officers who had been in Omagh town centre at the time of the blast were called to take the stand.
Their graphic descriptions followed harrowing video footage which gave a graphic visual accounts of the minutes after the bomb.
None of the six families were in court to watch the three amateur videos which lasted about 20 minutes.
Sgt Wesley McCracken, an RUC officer of 20 years experience at the time, described the aftermath as "probably the most horrific site I will ever see in my life"
Sgt McCracken who was in Ballykelly at the time of the Droppin Well bar bomb in 1982 said Omagh "paled the Droppin Well into insignificance in terms of the large number of casualties and the large number of deceased".
Constable Geoffrey Eakin described how one woman had been completely decapitated and the other had the top half of her head blown off. He said he had been "taken aback" by the state of some of the bodies he had been tasked to look after.
Another police officer, Louise Stewart, had also arrived on the scene minutes after the explosion. In her evidence she described "strewn debris, strewn bodies, parts of bodies, some not clothed. In fact it was so horrific words can never describe it".
Statements from a number of other officers, including Sergeant Philip Marshall, were also read out to the court.
At hearing.
Surgeon recalls the horror that confronted him in hospital
BY LESLEY-ANNE HENRY
lhenry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
A SENIOR surgeon at Tyrone County Hospital said the Omagh bombing was a "disaster of battlefield proportions" a Belfast court heard yesterday.
In a statement given during day two of a multi-million pound civil action being brought by families of six victims, consultant surgeon Dr Dominic Pinto said he would be forever haunted by the scenes of horror and devastation that greeted him on August 15, 1998.
Dr Pinto, who worked in Uganda during Idi Amin's reign of terror and had treated many victims of terrorist violence, described the carnage that Saturday afternoon as "unprecedented".
Twenty-nine people died and more than 200 others were injured when the car bomb exploded on a busy shopping street.
In an emotional statement read out by counsel for the families Brett Lockhart QC, Dr Pinto said: "Omagh was unique because of the sheer scale of devastation and aftermath.
"August 15 was unprecedented not only for the town but for me."
He recalled how he had been playing golf but heard the bomb and immediately rushed to the hospital. On arrival he said he was not prepared for what met him.
"As soon as I opened the doors leading to Accident and Emergency I could see the scale of what we were going to have to tend to.
"It was sheer pandemonium. This was not a major incident, but a disaster of battlefield proportions."
Dr Pinto, who treated hundreds of the most seriously wounded, said he had reviewed a major incident policy just weeks before.
But the court heard that the bomb had severely damaged the town's telecommunications system, which meant the hospital could not communicate with other emergency services and did not know the extent of the trauma.
Resources at the small general hospital were stretched to their limits on the day of the bomb, it was claimed.
"The badly injured just kept coming," said Dr Pinto. "Accident and Emergency was overflowing. People were lying in corridors, radiology was full." He noted that other wards which had been cleared were also filling up with casualties.
All off duty staff were called into work, while other medics, including many of the town's GPs, offered help. A surgeon and anaesthetist made an 80-mile journey from Sligo to help.
Dr Pinto said he would never forget the 18 month-old baby who could not be resuscitated; the 10-year-old boy who bled to death or the young lady that he pronounced dead and who later turned out to be the daughter of a close friend.
Another victim, the daughter of a hospital colleague, was left blinded after shrapnel was lodged between her eyes in the bridge of her nose.
Earlier in the day, four police officers who had been in Omagh town centre at the time of the blast were called to take the stand.
Their graphic descriptions followed harrowing video footage which gave a graphic visual accounts of the minutes after the bomb.
None of the six families were in court to watch the three amateur videos which lasted about 20 minutes.
Sgt Wesley McCracken, an RUC officer of 20 years experience at the time, described the aftermath as "probably the most horrific site I will ever see in my life"
Sgt McCracken who was in Ballykelly at the time of the Droppin Well bar bomb in 1982 said Omagh "paled the Droppin Well into insignificance in terms of the large number of casualties and the large number of deceased".
Constable Geoffrey Eakin described how one woman had been completely decapitated and the other had the top half of her head blown off. He said he had been "taken aback" by the state of some of the bodies he had been tasked to look after.
Another police officer, Louise Stewart, had also arrived on the scene minutes after the explosion. In her evidence she described "strewn debris, strewn bodies, parts of bodies, some not clothed. In fact it was so horrific words can never describe it".
Statements from a number of other officers, including Sergeant Philip Marshall, were also read out to the court.
At hearing.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/1078
Published Date: 09-Apr-08
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