TERROR RETURNS TO TOWN
Terror returns to town
TERROR returned to the streets of Omagh yesterday as yet another bomb hoax sent locals running for their lives.
The alarm came as hundreds gathered in the town centre for a special mass to remember the 29 dead and more than 200 injured exactly a month ago to the day.
But the latest in a string of bomb warnings - which are now occurring in the town on an almost daily basis - is threatening to push Omagh people over the edge, one resident warned yesterday.
The man, who did not want to be named, said: "Sick does not describe this. People here cannot take much more.
"The mere mention of the word bomb is an outrage here.
But to make people - many of whom were in the town on the day the bomb went off -panic like this, is disgusting beyond words."
It was also revealed that relatives of some of those killed and maimed have been targeted by a sick prankster who phones their homes and subjects them to harrowing abuse and threats.
Similar calls have been made to the parents of two of the three young Buncrana boys who died in the blast.
Yesterday's hoaxer claimed a bomb had been left in the town's DHS office. Dozens were evacuated as police took no chances.
One onlooker said: "I could not imagine that anyone could be cruel enough to plant another bomb in Omagh.
"But police just cannot take any chances. If there was another bomb, I don't know how people would cope.
"The fear is that there are people sick enough to try and revisit the horror on people who have suffered so much."
TERROR returned to the streets of Omagh yesterday as yet another bomb hoax sent locals running for their lives.
The alarm came as hundreds gathered in the town centre for a special mass to remember the 29 dead and more than 200 injured exactly a month ago to the day.
But the latest in a string of bomb warnings - which are now occurring in the town on an almost daily basis - is threatening to push Omagh people over the edge, one resident warned yesterday.
The man, who did not want to be named, said: "Sick does not describe this. People here cannot take much more.
"The mere mention of the word bomb is an outrage here.
But to make people - many of whom were in the town on the day the bomb went off -panic like this, is disgusting beyond words."
It was also revealed that relatives of some of those killed and maimed have been targeted by a sick prankster who phones their homes and subjects them to harrowing abuse and threats.
Similar calls have been made to the parents of two of the three young Buncrana boys who died in the blast.
Yesterday's hoaxer claimed a bomb had been left in the town's DHS office. Dozens were evacuated as police took no chances.
One onlooker said: "I could not imagine that anyone could be cruel enough to plant another bomb in Omagh.
"But police just cannot take any chances. If there was another bomb, I don't know how people would cope.
"The fear is that there are people sick enough to try and revisit the horror on people who have suffered so much."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/299
Published Date: 16-Sep-98
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