SHOCKED CITIZENS TRY TO TAKE IN HORROR
Shocked citizens try to take in the horror
by Lara Bradley
FIFTEEN-year-old Martin Byrne was so shocked by the gory aftermath of Saturday's bomb that he threw up and then suffered a convulsion.
Yesterday afternoon he was back at the bomb-site looking for news of his missing friend - unaware that teenager Alan Radford was already dead.
Martin had gone into the own to look for a job. With ears welling in his eyes he laid: "There were bodies lying everywhere, hands and bits of people all over the place.
"Everybody was screaming and crying. Some were holding their heads and bleeding. I can't believe people were herded down to where the bomb was."
Soldiers carried Martin into hospital but he was soon discharged to make room for more critical casualties.
He said: "I was aware of what was going on. There was just blood everywhere. A surgeon came out and said to me There's just people dying all around me, I can't stand it'.
"My friend is missing. He was in the town but nobody has heard of him since. I'm just waiting to see if he will turn up."
Martin will never see his friend Alan Radford again.
By evening Alan's sister was standing on the doorstep of their Omagh home choking back her tears.
"I just can't talk about it. We just found out he was dead a few hours ago. We just can't think straight to say anything about Alan today," she said.
Manager Derek Breslin knew immediately what it was when he heard a huge explosion a few hundred yards from his shop. He ferried four bloodied Spanish students to hospital in his car.
He said: "It was like an abattoir where someone had gone crazy. There were bits of bodies and skin hanging off people so you could see their bones. It was a nightmare.
"There was a little girl up there who was complaining about glass in her arm. She didn't realise her leg had been blown off."
Pharmacist Art Kelly was in the Omagh Health Centre yesterday dispensing everything from valium to baby milk.
On Saturday, his wife Roisin was ushered away from Market Street by a traffic warden. Art said: "The warden was never seen again. We think she may be dead."
Roisin was standing in a shop doorway when the bomb exploded. The building collapsed around her.
Art said: "She was saved by the door-frame and only suffered a few cuts but the woman behind her had her leg sliced just above the ankle.
"Someone tore down a door and they carried the woman to an ambulance.
"Then my wife went back to help but a lot of the others were already dead. She just tried to give what succour she could to the injured.
"She couldn't recognise anyone in the carnage because they were all covered in blood and glass but I'm sure we know quite a few of them.
"I gave her valium when she came home. There have been a constant stream of people needing valium just to get through these next few days."
by Lara Bradley
FIFTEEN-year-old Martin Byrne was so shocked by the gory aftermath of Saturday's bomb that he threw up and then suffered a convulsion.
Yesterday afternoon he was back at the bomb-site looking for news of his missing friend - unaware that teenager Alan Radford was already dead.
Martin had gone into the own to look for a job. With ears welling in his eyes he laid: "There were bodies lying everywhere, hands and bits of people all over the place.
"Everybody was screaming and crying. Some were holding their heads and bleeding. I can't believe people were herded down to where the bomb was."
Soldiers carried Martin into hospital but he was soon discharged to make room for more critical casualties.
He said: "I was aware of what was going on. There was just blood everywhere. A surgeon came out and said to me There's just people dying all around me, I can't stand it'.
"My friend is missing. He was in the town but nobody has heard of him since. I'm just waiting to see if he will turn up."
Martin will never see his friend Alan Radford again.
By evening Alan's sister was standing on the doorstep of their Omagh home choking back her tears.
"I just can't talk about it. We just found out he was dead a few hours ago. We just can't think straight to say anything about Alan today," she said.
Manager Derek Breslin knew immediately what it was when he heard a huge explosion a few hundred yards from his shop. He ferried four bloodied Spanish students to hospital in his car.
He said: "It was like an abattoir where someone had gone crazy. There were bits of bodies and skin hanging off people so you could see their bones. It was a nightmare.
"There was a little girl up there who was complaining about glass in her arm. She didn't realise her leg had been blown off."
Pharmacist Art Kelly was in the Omagh Health Centre yesterday dispensing everything from valium to baby milk.
On Saturday, his wife Roisin was ushered away from Market Street by a traffic warden. Art said: "The warden was never seen again. We think she may be dead."
Roisin was standing in a shop doorway when the bomb exploded. The building collapsed around her.
Art said: "She was saved by the door-frame and only suffered a few cuts but the woman behind her had her leg sliced just above the ankle.
"Someone tore down a door and they carried the woman to an ambulance.
"Then my wife went back to help but a lot of the others were already dead. She just tried to give what succour she could to the injured.
"She couldn't recognise anyone in the carnage because they were all covered in blood and glass but I'm sure we know quite a few of them.
"I gave her valium when she came home. There have been a constant stream of people needing valium just to get through these next few days."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/019
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
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