NOBODY SEEMED TO THINK THERE WAS A BOMB
Nobody seemed to think there was a bomb' - Traffic Warden
A TRAFFIC warden told the Omagh Inquest that despite being warned that there was a bomb scare, people were still trying to park their cars and shop in Market Street in the minutes prior to the 300lb car bomb exploding.
Mrs. Marguerita Larsen also revealed that she was injured in the blast and had to be taken to hospital.
Just over half-an-hour before the bomb she said she had been on Kevlin Avenue, and when her radio crackled she knew someone was trying to contact her so she walked towards the Royal Arms Mews.
She said that while in the Mews someone told her there was a bomb scare, and at the top of the entry she could see police clearing High Street.
She said she spoke to some Spanish students outside Menary's, and explained there was a bomb scare. A youth leader called to them and they walked off in the direction of Market Street.
Mrs. Larsen also went into Market Street where she spoke to a colleague before walking back up the street to Supervalu. At that point she could still see the police moving people towards Market Street, and she then made her way to the junction of Market Street with Dublin Road, and the bomb detonated just as she stepped onto the road to begin directing traffic.
She said she saw the car at the front of the queue of traffic coming out of Campsie seemed to shrink, the front window smashed and the panels seemed to fall inwards.
Then she noticed that her left hand was extremely sore and she said she was taken into a nearby shop and was tended to before being transferred to hospital.
In cross-examination, Mrs. Larsen said she had only been a few doors down from where the bomb exploded, and she regarded the town centre as being High Street and Market Street.
She told the coroner that she had to walk past the car bomb to get to the junction, and said she never thought that there was a bomb in the town, she just regarded it as a bomb scare.
"Over the years there have been quite a few bomb scares that came to nothing," she said.
Mrs. Larsen went on to say that quite a number of people were anxious to get to their cars, and when she came back towards the town no one spoke about where the bomb might be.
"Nobody seemed to think there was a bomb, it was quite light-hearted," she said, adding: "A lot of people just wanted to go to their cars and go home".
She recalled how Market Street as she recalled it had been crowded with people, and was quite surprised to see how empty the street seemed in the photograph that was later used in the police investigation posters.
A police officer told the court that the police believed the picture had been taken three or four minutes prior to the bomb detonating.
Questioned about the single yellow line, and the attitude of traffic wardens to people parking on it, she said that the single yellow line extended the length of Market Street.
She said that on Saturdays when there was a reduction in the amount of loading and unloading, a more lenient attitude was taken to shoppers parking on the street.
She said it would be normal practice for wardens to jot down registration numbers of cars, and if the cars were still there 20 minutes or so later they could be given a ticket.
She said her 'beat' on August 15 was High Street, and that Mr. Thomas Kerrigan had been in charge of Market Street.
When her radio crackled she knew someone, probably one of the other traffic wardens was looking for her, and she had made her way back into town because the radios did not work in certain areas. She added that although the traffic wardens would be able to pick up police radios, they would have to 'switch over' to receive such transmissions.
Busy
She went on to say that Mr. Kerrigan's beat was a busy one, as there was a lot of parking and double parking, and she said that traffic warden training on suspect cars involved watching out for vehicles with their wipers going or car doors left open.
"We were telling people that there was a bomb scare. One woman got out of her car and went into the Salad Bowl. She knew there was a bomb scare, but she just went on," Mrs. Larsen said.
"I don't believe anyone believed there was a bomb," she said.
Constable Keith Hutchinson told the inquest that it had taken him 12 minutes to drive to Omagh from Carrickmore once he knew there was a bomb scare.
"I just drove as fast as the car would go," he said in evidence.
He told the Coroner's Court that upon arrival in the town he had helped to move people beyond Bell's Bridge at Bridge Street when the bomb went off.
On arrival at the bomb scene there was a lot of damage and debris and people were running in all directions. Some were injured and in shock.
He said the remains of a vehicle was burning near Kells, and he saw a young female lying dead in the rubble, while a young man with ginger hair was lying dead in the road, face up.
He saw another male person lying in the street with facial injuries and he helped others move a woman who was injured.
At one point he came across a woman who was struggling violently. Most of her clothing had been blown off in the force of the bomb blast, but she calmed down when she was helped onto a bus.
He said he came across a female who had fallen down a manhole who appeared to be injured who was being tended to by another woman, and he than helped a female who had substantial burns who was sitting up shouting for her baby.
Baby
A man helped her while he looked for the baby in the rubble at the shops on the right side of the street.
He said that when he moved the shutter from a shop front he came across three people in the rubble. He began tending to the male person and felt he had a pulse. At that stage the man moaned, but witness was unable to move him as he was trapped at the feet by another person, a woman.
He said the elderly woman also moaned when he spoke to her and he moved her. He said he also found the body of another woman who had been decapitated and he covered her as best he could with a sign or banner.
After this he said he continued to offer help to others who were injured and instructed others on helping people and getting them to transport and on to hospital.
At one stage he helped a man with ginger hair into the rear of a police vehicle, propping him up against the rear door, and people in a civilian car pulled up and he instructed them to take another person, a blond female, to hospital.
He then instructed other people to search in the rubble for other casualties and he also helped to clear obstructing vehicles on Drumragh Avenue to allow a freeflow of traffic to the hospital.
Once the casualties were cleared from the area Constable Hutchinson said he helped to cover a number of the dead who were lying on the road, and he continued to check in shops along the street for others.
In one premises he found members of staff cowering in the rear of the shop and he told them to leave the area in the other direction from the bomb.
He continued by checking cars and also checked Wellworths/SuperValu, and went on to check vehicles in the car park to the rear of the supermarket.
He said he accompanied the last of the ambulances ferrying the dead to the temporary mortuary set of at Lisanelly Barracks, and eventually returned to Carrickmore Station, where he clocked off duty at midnight.
In cross-examination, Constable Hutchinson said that the people he had encountered in Bridge Street had been "very reluctant" to move back and it took "quite a lot of shouting and persuading" to get people to moved beyond the bridge.
Constable Gary Harkness told the inquest that he had been detailed to go to Kilkeel, but had been turned back and told to attend a bomb scare in Omagh.
He had been in George Street checking vehicles and had just walked into the top of High Street when the bomb exploded.
Hysterical
He also described in detail the scenes of carnage to tilt Coroner's Court, and said people were shocked, hysterical and nursing their wounds from Scarffe's Entry down the rest of Market Street.
He said that he ran into the black smoke and came across the block of a car engine which was on fire. Two people were trapped and he believed that both were alive.
A crater was outside S. D. Kells and was "rushing with water", and he recalled how he helped a woman search for her husband, newsagent Jim Sharkey, whom they found in the rubble. He had an injury to his arm and was extremely shocked.
He said he assisted moving the injured into ambulances and private vehicles and he and other people also broke into closed shops and locked rooms inside them to search for other people who might be injured.
"The majority of the people I tended had horrific injuries," he said.
After clearing the area he said he took up cordon duty at Scarffe's Entry.
In cross-examination Constable Harkness said the area that the explosion happened was in completely the opposite direction to where it had been thought the bomb scare related.
He said that in his lifetime there had been at least two bombs at the Courthouse and he considered the Courthouse to be the focal point of the town as well as a "Crown target".
"To me the town centre is High Street with the focal point at the Courthouse," he added.
Further questioned about the number of police on duty, Constable Harkness said two sergeants and eight constables were on duty in two Land Rovers, and he also revealed that one police constable was getting married that day.
A TRAFFIC warden told the Omagh Inquest that despite being warned that there was a bomb scare, people were still trying to park their cars and shop in Market Street in the minutes prior to the 300lb car bomb exploding.
Mrs. Marguerita Larsen also revealed that she was injured in the blast and had to be taken to hospital.
Just over half-an-hour before the bomb she said she had been on Kevlin Avenue, and when her radio crackled she knew someone was trying to contact her so she walked towards the Royal Arms Mews.
She said that while in the Mews someone told her there was a bomb scare, and at the top of the entry she could see police clearing High Street.
She said she spoke to some Spanish students outside Menary's, and explained there was a bomb scare. A youth leader called to them and they walked off in the direction of Market Street.
Mrs. Larsen also went into Market Street where she spoke to a colleague before walking back up the street to Supervalu. At that point she could still see the police moving people towards Market Street, and she then made her way to the junction of Market Street with Dublin Road, and the bomb detonated just as she stepped onto the road to begin directing traffic.
She said she saw the car at the front of the queue of traffic coming out of Campsie seemed to shrink, the front window smashed and the panels seemed to fall inwards.
Then she noticed that her left hand was extremely sore and she said she was taken into a nearby shop and was tended to before being transferred to hospital.
In cross-examination, Mrs. Larsen said she had only been a few doors down from where the bomb exploded, and she regarded the town centre as being High Street and Market Street.
She told the coroner that she had to walk past the car bomb to get to the junction, and said she never thought that there was a bomb in the town, she just regarded it as a bomb scare.
"Over the years there have been quite a few bomb scares that came to nothing," she said.
Mrs. Larsen went on to say that quite a number of people were anxious to get to their cars, and when she came back towards the town no one spoke about where the bomb might be.
"Nobody seemed to think there was a bomb, it was quite light-hearted," she said, adding: "A lot of people just wanted to go to their cars and go home".
She recalled how Market Street as she recalled it had been crowded with people, and was quite surprised to see how empty the street seemed in the photograph that was later used in the police investigation posters.
A police officer told the court that the police believed the picture had been taken three or four minutes prior to the bomb detonating.
Questioned about the single yellow line, and the attitude of traffic wardens to people parking on it, she said that the single yellow line extended the length of Market Street.
She said that on Saturdays when there was a reduction in the amount of loading and unloading, a more lenient attitude was taken to shoppers parking on the street.
She said it would be normal practice for wardens to jot down registration numbers of cars, and if the cars were still there 20 minutes or so later they could be given a ticket.
She said her 'beat' on August 15 was High Street, and that Mr. Thomas Kerrigan had been in charge of Market Street.
When her radio crackled she knew someone, probably one of the other traffic wardens was looking for her, and she had made her way back into town because the radios did not work in certain areas. She added that although the traffic wardens would be able to pick up police radios, they would have to 'switch over' to receive such transmissions.
Busy
She went on to say that Mr. Kerrigan's beat was a busy one, as there was a lot of parking and double parking, and she said that traffic warden training on suspect cars involved watching out for vehicles with their wipers going or car doors left open.
"We were telling people that there was a bomb scare. One woman got out of her car and went into the Salad Bowl. She knew there was a bomb scare, but she just went on," Mrs. Larsen said.
"I don't believe anyone believed there was a bomb," she said.
Constable Keith Hutchinson told the inquest that it had taken him 12 minutes to drive to Omagh from Carrickmore once he knew there was a bomb scare.
"I just drove as fast as the car would go," he said in evidence.
He told the Coroner's Court that upon arrival in the town he had helped to move people beyond Bell's Bridge at Bridge Street when the bomb went off.
On arrival at the bomb scene there was a lot of damage and debris and people were running in all directions. Some were injured and in shock.
He said the remains of a vehicle was burning near Kells, and he saw a young female lying dead in the rubble, while a young man with ginger hair was lying dead in the road, face up.
He saw another male person lying in the street with facial injuries and he helped others move a woman who was injured.
At one point he came across a woman who was struggling violently. Most of her clothing had been blown off in the force of the bomb blast, but she calmed down when she was helped onto a bus.
He said he came across a female who had fallen down a manhole who appeared to be injured who was being tended to by another woman, and he than helped a female who had substantial burns who was sitting up shouting for her baby.
Baby
A man helped her while he looked for the baby in the rubble at the shops on the right side of the street.
He said that when he moved the shutter from a shop front he came across three people in the rubble. He began tending to the male person and felt he had a pulse. At that stage the man moaned, but witness was unable to move him as he was trapped at the feet by another person, a woman.
He said the elderly woman also moaned when he spoke to her and he moved her. He said he also found the body of another woman who had been decapitated and he covered her as best he could with a sign or banner.
After this he said he continued to offer help to others who were injured and instructed others on helping people and getting them to transport and on to hospital.
At one stage he helped a man with ginger hair into the rear of a police vehicle, propping him up against the rear door, and people in a civilian car pulled up and he instructed them to take another person, a blond female, to hospital.
He then instructed other people to search in the rubble for other casualties and he also helped to clear obstructing vehicles on Drumragh Avenue to allow a freeflow of traffic to the hospital.
Once the casualties were cleared from the area Constable Hutchinson said he helped to cover a number of the dead who were lying on the road, and he continued to check in shops along the street for others.
In one premises he found members of staff cowering in the rear of the shop and he told them to leave the area in the other direction from the bomb.
He continued by checking cars and also checked Wellworths/SuperValu, and went on to check vehicles in the car park to the rear of the supermarket.
He said he accompanied the last of the ambulances ferrying the dead to the temporary mortuary set of at Lisanelly Barracks, and eventually returned to Carrickmore Station, where he clocked off duty at midnight.
In cross-examination, Constable Hutchinson said that the people he had encountered in Bridge Street had been "very reluctant" to move back and it took "quite a lot of shouting and persuading" to get people to moved beyond the bridge.
Constable Gary Harkness told the inquest that he had been detailed to go to Kilkeel, but had been turned back and told to attend a bomb scare in Omagh.
He had been in George Street checking vehicles and had just walked into the top of High Street when the bomb exploded.
Hysterical
He also described in detail the scenes of carnage to tilt Coroner's Court, and said people were shocked, hysterical and nursing their wounds from Scarffe's Entry down the rest of Market Street.
He said that he ran into the black smoke and came across the block of a car engine which was on fire. Two people were trapped and he believed that both were alive.
A crater was outside S. D. Kells and was "rushing with water", and he recalled how he helped a woman search for her husband, newsagent Jim Sharkey, whom they found in the rubble. He had an injury to his arm and was extremely shocked.
He said he assisted moving the injured into ambulances and private vehicles and he and other people also broke into closed shops and locked rooms inside them to search for other people who might be injured.
"The majority of the people I tended had horrific injuries," he said.
After clearing the area he said he took up cordon duty at Scarffe's Entry.
In cross-examination Constable Harkness said the area that the explosion happened was in completely the opposite direction to where it had been thought the bomb scare related.
He said that in his lifetime there had been at least two bombs at the Courthouse and he considered the Courthouse to be the focal point of the town as well as a "Crown target".
"To me the town centre is High Street with the focal point at the Courthouse," he added.
Further questioned about the number of police on duty, Constable Harkness said two sergeants and eight constables were on duty in two Land Rovers, and he also revealed that one police constable was getting married that day.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1533
Published Date: 14-Sep-00
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