SPANISH VISITORS DIED TRAUMATICALLY A LONG WAY FROM HOME
Spanish visitors 'died traumatically a long way from home'
BOTH the Spanish visitors to Omagh who died in the bombing suffered severe trauma to the uppermost vertebrae in their necks, causing instantaneous death, the inquest has heard.
Youth leader, Miss Rocio Abad Ramos, died after the blast lifted her off her feet and she fell to the ground sustaining a fatal neck injury. Her only other injuries were burns to her legs.
More poignant still was the death of 12-year-old Fernando Blasco Baselga, whose only injury was from a small piece of metal shrapnel which pierced the left side of his neck, causing an unsurvivable injury to his uppermost cervical vertebrae. The inquest was told that the young visitor barely had another scratch on him.
In evidence Sergeant Robert Wilson said that he was assisted to identify 23-year-old Miss Abad Ramos by Paula Mahon, from Buncrana, Co. Donegal, who was one of the youth leaders at Weavers Cottage, Umcican, where Spanish children had come to learn English during the summer months.
In her statement Ms. Mahon said 43 children, including 10 Irish boys, had left Buncrana on a bus trip to Omagh. Among them were three youth leaders, Rocio being one of them. She said she had known Rocio for 10 years.
Snr. Jose Abad, Rocio's father, in a statement read to the inquest, confirmed that his daughter's identity at the Pavilion at Lisanelly Army Barracks.
In his report, the Deputy State Pathologist, Dr. Derek Carson, said he performed a post-mortem examination on the Spanish woman two days after the bomb.
His findings were that the cause of death was as a result of spinal cord injury associated with atlanto-occipital dislocation.
He said the injury was likely to have caused immediate death.
He said she was hit from behind by shrapnel, thrown forward and her fall caused injury to her face and spine and spinal cord.
He added that the act of being thrown forward and landing on her face caused the spinal injury, and if she had survived she would have been paralysed.
The coroner, Mr. John Leckey, extended very deep sympathy to the family of Miss Abad Ramos, and Mr Patrick Laverty, solicitor, thanked the coroner on behalf of the family, for his kind remarks.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Wilson said that he had also been assisted to identify the body of Fernando Baselga Blasco by Ms. Mahon, and in a statement to the Inquest Ms. Mahon said she had known Fernando all his life.
Using an interpreter (Ximona Arias McLaughlin), the sergeant said he obtained a statement from Fernando's mother, Lucrecia Baselga Ridruejo, who formally identified her son's remains.
In his findings, Dr. Carson said that the cause of Fernando's death was due to spinal cord injury, in association with a fracture of the atlas of the neck vertebrae due to a penetrating injury to the left side of the neck as a direct result of the bomb explosion.
He said the injury fractured the first vertebrae of the spine, damaging the spinal cord which was likely to have caused rapid death.
Coroner: "He was very unlucky just being struck by one piece of shrapnel which entered his body at a particularly vulnerable place. If the same metal object had struck him on the arm of leg, or any other part of the body, the injury would have been survivable".
In cross-examination by Mr. Laverty, Dr. Carson said that the injury would have caused the loss of vital functions such as the heart and breathing, and Fernando would have died "very very quickly".
Extending sympathy to the family of Fernando, he said the young boy would have had a fairly instant death.
He said everyone was conscious that Rocio and Fernando died very traumatically a long way from home, which could only have caused more stress to their families.
Mr. Laverty told the Inquest that the families that had acted as hosts to the two young visitors had wanted to be present for the hearing, and had been on their way thinking that the inquest into their deaths was to take place in the afternoon.
"They would like it to be known that they wanted to be here for this," he said.
BOTH the Spanish visitors to Omagh who died in the bombing suffered severe trauma to the uppermost vertebrae in their necks, causing instantaneous death, the inquest has heard.
Youth leader, Miss Rocio Abad Ramos, died after the blast lifted her off her feet and she fell to the ground sustaining a fatal neck injury. Her only other injuries were burns to her legs.
More poignant still was the death of 12-year-old Fernando Blasco Baselga, whose only injury was from a small piece of metal shrapnel which pierced the left side of his neck, causing an unsurvivable injury to his uppermost cervical vertebrae. The inquest was told that the young visitor barely had another scratch on him.
In evidence Sergeant Robert Wilson said that he was assisted to identify 23-year-old Miss Abad Ramos by Paula Mahon, from Buncrana, Co. Donegal, who was one of the youth leaders at Weavers Cottage, Umcican, where Spanish children had come to learn English during the summer months.
In her statement Ms. Mahon said 43 children, including 10 Irish boys, had left Buncrana on a bus trip to Omagh. Among them were three youth leaders, Rocio being one of them. She said she had known Rocio for 10 years.
Snr. Jose Abad, Rocio's father, in a statement read to the inquest, confirmed that his daughter's identity at the Pavilion at Lisanelly Army Barracks.
In his report, the Deputy State Pathologist, Dr. Derek Carson, said he performed a post-mortem examination on the Spanish woman two days after the bomb.
His findings were that the cause of death was as a result of spinal cord injury associated with atlanto-occipital dislocation.
He said the injury was likely to have caused immediate death.
He said she was hit from behind by shrapnel, thrown forward and her fall caused injury to her face and spine and spinal cord.
He added that the act of being thrown forward and landing on her face caused the spinal injury, and if she had survived she would have been paralysed.
The coroner, Mr. John Leckey, extended very deep sympathy to the family of Miss Abad Ramos, and Mr Patrick Laverty, solicitor, thanked the coroner on behalf of the family, for his kind remarks.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Wilson said that he had also been assisted to identify the body of Fernando Baselga Blasco by Ms. Mahon, and in a statement to the Inquest Ms. Mahon said she had known Fernando all his life.
Using an interpreter (Ximona Arias McLaughlin), the sergeant said he obtained a statement from Fernando's mother, Lucrecia Baselga Ridruejo, who formally identified her son's remains.
In his findings, Dr. Carson said that the cause of Fernando's death was due to spinal cord injury, in association with a fracture of the atlas of the neck vertebrae due to a penetrating injury to the left side of the neck as a direct result of the bomb explosion.
He said the injury fractured the first vertebrae of the spine, damaging the spinal cord which was likely to have caused rapid death.
Coroner: "He was very unlucky just being struck by one piece of shrapnel which entered his body at a particularly vulnerable place. If the same metal object had struck him on the arm of leg, or any other part of the body, the injury would have been survivable".
In cross-examination by Mr. Laverty, Dr. Carson said that the injury would have caused the loss of vital functions such as the heart and breathing, and Fernando would have died "very very quickly".
Extending sympathy to the family of Fernando, he said the young boy would have had a fairly instant death.
He said everyone was conscious that Rocio and Fernando died very traumatically a long way from home, which could only have caused more stress to their families.
Mr. Laverty told the Inquest that the families that had acted as hosts to the two young visitors had wanted to be present for the hearing, and had been on their way thinking that the inquest into their deaths was to take place in the afternoon.
"They would like it to be known that they wanted to be here for this," he said.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1538
Published Date: 21-Sep-00
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