POLICEWOMAN TELLS OF CHAOS AT BOMB SCENE
Police women tells of chaos at bomb scene
Constable Louise Stewart, told the inquest that after she was stood down from going to Kilkeel, she had been detailed to go to John Street to help deal with the evacuation of people.
She said she had just stepped out of the Land Rover when there was an explosion.
In Market Street there was a scene of chaos, and she noticed someone lying under the burning engine block of a car, screaming. Someone tried to put out the fire with a hand-held fire extinguisher. She said there were bodies everywhere. People were screaming for help to find others.
"I saw children lying dead on the street. I saw people with parts of their bodies missing. There were so many dead and injured. I felt completely helpless," she said.
She said that she was told the dead would have to be moved and an Army doctor arrived and pronounced life extinct. She was told that individual police were told to stay with bodies for the sake of continuity.
The constable said she assisted the Army doctor with two bodies under a tarpaulin at Nicholl and Shiels.
Mrs. Stewart said that later she was tasked to duties at the temporary mortuary at the gymnasium at Lisanelly Army Barracks, where each body was allocated a space and a number.
She said she helped to measure the bodies and helped search for identification, noted any jewellery and clothing, and when she left there were 26 bodies in the temporary mortuary which had been documented.
Coroner: "Your task along with the others was both very difficult and extremely unpleasant".
Witness: "It was".
Reserve Constable. Gary McConnell, said he, too, was detailed to deal with civilians in the John Street area, and it was while in John Street that he heard an explosion.
"1 got into the Land Rover and drove along to High Street and into Market Street. On arrival I was met by people walking towards me with blood dripping from them," he told the Inquest.
He saw a young girl near the engine block of a car bleeding heavily from both legs and he told the hearing how he lifted the girl and tried to help her.
"A lot of water was running down the street and a lot of people were lying with water running over them," he said.
He said he moved those people, who were alive, up towards Supervalu.
At that point he heard people shouting for a Land Rover driver so he took the task of ferrying people to hospital in the Land Rover.
After two runs to the County Hospital he returned to Market Street and assisted with the moving of three bodies to the Market Street Arcade entry. He then took up cordon duty before terminating duty at 11.05pm.
In cross-examination he told the inquest that the bomb warning was for the Courthouse, and he thought it was the Courthouse building itself.
Fintona policeman Constable John Jeremy Graeme Walls, gave similar evidence of the bomb scene.
He said he overheard that there was a bomb scare at the Courthouse on his police radio and the final transmission at around 3.05pm was that a bomb had exploded so he drove to Omagh, arriving at 3.16pm.
He said he saw that a number of buildings had collapsed and that there was rubble strewn all over the street.
He said he used a first aid kit to help treat people, and at one point noticed a woman in the rubble face up. At Kells he helped a constable tending to an unconscious woman in her 20s, and he then went to Nicholl and Shiels, where he tended to a number of well-dressed elderly ladies.
In the remains of a furniture shop opposite he found a makeshift stretcher and at that stage he was approached by a man who said he had seen a woman in the rubble who was still alive. However, the constable said that when he looked he saw a body, which he covered with a piece of curtain-like cloth and he told the man that the person was most likely dead.
He said he also spoke to a local priest who appeared shocked, and he asked the clergyman to try and comfort casualties.
The constable said he then joined the cordon at the top of Market Street, and began to clear the area of civilians who were fit to walk.
During that time he noted two bodies at the area of Cozy Corner covered by blankets, and there were three bodies in the area of Nicholl and Shiels. There were also bodies in a big pool of water, one was partly clothed with a lot of flesh exposed.
He was then detailed to do a search for further casualties. At this time the Army doctor arrived and began checking those left for signs of life.
Once the fatally injured were pronounced dead their remains were carried by police to the arcade entry, and they were ferried to the temporary mortuary by members of the St. John Ambulance.
Constable Louise Stewart, told the inquest that after she was stood down from going to Kilkeel, she had been detailed to go to John Street to help deal with the evacuation of people.
She said she had just stepped out of the Land Rover when there was an explosion.
In Market Street there was a scene of chaos, and she noticed someone lying under the burning engine block of a car, screaming. Someone tried to put out the fire with a hand-held fire extinguisher. She said there were bodies everywhere. People were screaming for help to find others.
"I saw children lying dead on the street. I saw people with parts of their bodies missing. There were so many dead and injured. I felt completely helpless," she said.
She said that she was told the dead would have to be moved and an Army doctor arrived and pronounced life extinct. She was told that individual police were told to stay with bodies for the sake of continuity.
The constable said she assisted the Army doctor with two bodies under a tarpaulin at Nicholl and Shiels.
Mrs. Stewart said that later she was tasked to duties at the temporary mortuary at the gymnasium at Lisanelly Army Barracks, where each body was allocated a space and a number.
She said she helped to measure the bodies and helped search for identification, noted any jewellery and clothing, and when she left there were 26 bodies in the temporary mortuary which had been documented.
Coroner: "Your task along with the others was both very difficult and extremely unpleasant".
Witness: "It was".
Reserve Constable. Gary McConnell, said he, too, was detailed to deal with civilians in the John Street area, and it was while in John Street that he heard an explosion.
"1 got into the Land Rover and drove along to High Street and into Market Street. On arrival I was met by people walking towards me with blood dripping from them," he told the Inquest.
He saw a young girl near the engine block of a car bleeding heavily from both legs and he told the hearing how he lifted the girl and tried to help her.
"A lot of water was running down the street and a lot of people were lying with water running over them," he said.
He said he moved those people, who were alive, up towards Supervalu.
At that point he heard people shouting for a Land Rover driver so he took the task of ferrying people to hospital in the Land Rover.
After two runs to the County Hospital he returned to Market Street and assisted with the moving of three bodies to the Market Street Arcade entry. He then took up cordon duty before terminating duty at 11.05pm.
In cross-examination he told the inquest that the bomb warning was for the Courthouse, and he thought it was the Courthouse building itself.
Fintona policeman Constable John Jeremy Graeme Walls, gave similar evidence of the bomb scene.
He said he overheard that there was a bomb scare at the Courthouse on his police radio and the final transmission at around 3.05pm was that a bomb had exploded so he drove to Omagh, arriving at 3.16pm.
He said he saw that a number of buildings had collapsed and that there was rubble strewn all over the street.
He said he used a first aid kit to help treat people, and at one point noticed a woman in the rubble face up. At Kells he helped a constable tending to an unconscious woman in her 20s, and he then went to Nicholl and Shiels, where he tended to a number of well-dressed elderly ladies.
In the remains of a furniture shop opposite he found a makeshift stretcher and at that stage he was approached by a man who said he had seen a woman in the rubble who was still alive. However, the constable said that when he looked he saw a body, which he covered with a piece of curtain-like cloth and he told the man that the person was most likely dead.
He said he also spoke to a local priest who appeared shocked, and he asked the clergyman to try and comfort casualties.
The constable said he then joined the cordon at the top of Market Street, and began to clear the area of civilians who were fit to walk.
During that time he noted two bodies at the area of Cozy Corner covered by blankets, and there were three bodies in the area of Nicholl and Shiels. There were also bodies in a big pool of water, one was partly clothed with a lot of flesh exposed.
He was then detailed to do a search for further casualties. At this time the Army doctor arrived and began checking those left for signs of life.
Once the fatally injured were pronounced dead their remains were carried by police to the arcade entry, and they were ferried to the temporary mortuary by members of the St. John Ambulance.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1539
Published Date: 21-Sep-00
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