TRAFFIC WARDEN CRADLED DYING BABY TO HOSPITAL
Traffic Warden cradled dying baby to hospital
A TRAFFIC warden who cradled an injured baby as she was driven to hospital, broke down as she gave evidence to Omagh Inquest.
Mrs. Rosemary Ingram said she mostly dealt with administration and supervision duties in her job, but on August 15, due to lack of staff, she had undertaken point duty in the town.
She said she approached the junction of Market Street from Dublin Road, at which point she became aware of police sirens and she saw a policeman was struggling to cope with traffic at the busy junction.
She was told to take over the point duty, and helped ease the congestion in Market Street by allowing cars out of the junction in the wrong direction onto Dublin Road and Drumragh Avenue.
She said she had difficulty in controlling the junction due to the sheer volume of traffic and her work was hampered by those who would not obey her directions.
Mrs. Ingram said she called her colleague, Mr. Thomas Kerrigan, to help, but she felt he was panicking and was having difficulty coping so she relieved him of his duty and asked another colleague, Mrs. Rita Larsen to assist.
"I was aware of a large build-up of people behind me," she told the inquest, and added that she then felt a thud on her back.
"I thought someone had driven into the back of me. I heard a loud bang and debris started to come around us," she said.
Mrs. Ingram said she then saw Mrs. Larsen with her hands up, and blood was flowing out of one of her hands. She said she was in a daze and was aware of screaming and shouting.
"I was crying and calling for someone to get an ambulance," she said and recalled how a policeman stopped beside her in a car with injured people in a car, and she got into the front seat.
She recalled how someone handed her a baby which had an open wound on the left cheek. The baby was not moving, was still in her arms, but had a strong heartbeat, she added.
Distressed
Mrs. Ingram broke down and became very distressed as she told the inquest she believed the baby was Breda Devine.
She went on to say that at the hospital her legs left her and she fell backwards onto her back still holding the baby, and she shouted for someone to take the baby.
In the hospital she was made lie down, but she had to get up again as someone who had more severe injuries needed the bed. She was later transferred to the Erne Hospital, Enniskillen, where she was treated for injuries to her legs, bottom, shoulder and a serious injury to her hip.
In cross-examination by the Coroner, Mr. John Leckey, Mrs. Ingram said that she had not fully recovered from her ordeal, and had gone back to work, but had to go off again.
She revealed that she did not know there was a bomb scare as she made her way to Market Street and had been surprised to learn of it.
Coroner: "How difficult was it to get people and motorists to obey you?"
Mrs Ingram: "It was very difficult. They were getting out of their cars and asking why they could not go up the street. They said they had to go up the street. 1 made them aware of the bomb scare. Some accepted that but some just got angry about it. I cannot recall if they were abusive, but they were angry. It did not get to the extent that they forced their way through."
She went on to say that she did not know how many people or cars were in that area of Market Street, as she had her back to the town when the bomb detonated. However, she said she, too, had been surprised to see how deserted the street appeared in the photograph used by the police in their poster campaign.
She also said that she had no dealings with pedestrians in the area, and the car bomb could not have been driven past her into the street as she had prevented vehicles from driving into the town.
Nothing suspcious
Her colleague, Mr. Kerrigan, said he noticed nothing suspicious in Market Street prior to being relieved of his duties at the junction.
He said that once Mrs. Ingram had allowed him to leave the junction he had gone into Market Street, and a few minutes later had gone to the coffee shop above Nicholl and Shiels, where there were around 50 to 100 people.
He said he was shocked and stunned after the explosion and did not remember leaving the coffee shop.
He said he remembered the street being in chaos, with vans and cars coming from every direction.
He said he then went to Dublin Road and stopped traffic.
In cross-examination he said there seemed to be a lot of people in the street many more than appeared in the photograph.
Mr. Kerrigan said that he felt people were taking the bomb warning lightly and did not seem to be concerned about it.
Some of them were angry and he also felt that people were annoyed and angry with him when he asked them to move.
He said he had not actually been told there was a bomb or bomb scare, but had assumed it to be the case when he saw the police in the town and the police vehicles across the road further up the town.
"There were 300 or 400 people at the junction before I went for coffee," he said.
"The coffee shop was totally packed out. There were 50 to 100 in the shop. People in the street were preventing motorists from getting out. Vehicles were having difficulty getting through the crowd," he added.
A TRAFFIC warden who cradled an injured baby as she was driven to hospital, broke down as she gave evidence to Omagh Inquest.
Mrs. Rosemary Ingram said she mostly dealt with administration and supervision duties in her job, but on August 15, due to lack of staff, she had undertaken point duty in the town.
She said she approached the junction of Market Street from Dublin Road, at which point she became aware of police sirens and she saw a policeman was struggling to cope with traffic at the busy junction.
She was told to take over the point duty, and helped ease the congestion in Market Street by allowing cars out of the junction in the wrong direction onto Dublin Road and Drumragh Avenue.
She said she had difficulty in controlling the junction due to the sheer volume of traffic and her work was hampered by those who would not obey her directions.
Mrs. Ingram said she called her colleague, Mr. Thomas Kerrigan, to help, but she felt he was panicking and was having difficulty coping so she relieved him of his duty and asked another colleague, Mrs. Rita Larsen to assist.
"I was aware of a large build-up of people behind me," she told the inquest, and added that she then felt a thud on her back.
"I thought someone had driven into the back of me. I heard a loud bang and debris started to come around us," she said.
Mrs. Ingram said she then saw Mrs. Larsen with her hands up, and blood was flowing out of one of her hands. She said she was in a daze and was aware of screaming and shouting.
"I was crying and calling for someone to get an ambulance," she said and recalled how a policeman stopped beside her in a car with injured people in a car, and she got into the front seat.
She recalled how someone handed her a baby which had an open wound on the left cheek. The baby was not moving, was still in her arms, but had a strong heartbeat, she added.
Distressed
Mrs. Ingram broke down and became very distressed as she told the inquest she believed the baby was Breda Devine.
She went on to say that at the hospital her legs left her and she fell backwards onto her back still holding the baby, and she shouted for someone to take the baby.
In the hospital she was made lie down, but she had to get up again as someone who had more severe injuries needed the bed. She was later transferred to the Erne Hospital, Enniskillen, where she was treated for injuries to her legs, bottom, shoulder and a serious injury to her hip.
In cross-examination by the Coroner, Mr. John Leckey, Mrs. Ingram said that she had not fully recovered from her ordeal, and had gone back to work, but had to go off again.
She revealed that she did not know there was a bomb scare as she made her way to Market Street and had been surprised to learn of it.
Coroner: "How difficult was it to get people and motorists to obey you?"
Mrs Ingram: "It was very difficult. They were getting out of their cars and asking why they could not go up the street. They said they had to go up the street. 1 made them aware of the bomb scare. Some accepted that but some just got angry about it. I cannot recall if they were abusive, but they were angry. It did not get to the extent that they forced their way through."
She went on to say that she did not know how many people or cars were in that area of Market Street, as she had her back to the town when the bomb detonated. However, she said she, too, had been surprised to see how deserted the street appeared in the photograph used by the police in their poster campaign.
She also said that she had no dealings with pedestrians in the area, and the car bomb could not have been driven past her into the street as she had prevented vehicles from driving into the town.
Nothing suspcious
Her colleague, Mr. Kerrigan, said he noticed nothing suspicious in Market Street prior to being relieved of his duties at the junction.
He said that once Mrs. Ingram had allowed him to leave the junction he had gone into Market Street, and a few minutes later had gone to the coffee shop above Nicholl and Shiels, where there were around 50 to 100 people.
He said he was shocked and stunned after the explosion and did not remember leaving the coffee shop.
He said he remembered the street being in chaos, with vans and cars coming from every direction.
He said he then went to Dublin Road and stopped traffic.
In cross-examination he said there seemed to be a lot of people in the street many more than appeared in the photograph.
Mr. Kerrigan said that he felt people were taking the bomb warning lightly and did not seem to be concerned about it.
Some of them were angry and he also felt that people were annoyed and angry with him when he asked them to move.
He said he had not actually been told there was a bomb or bomb scare, but had assumed it to be the case when he saw the police in the town and the police vehicles across the road further up the town.
"There were 300 or 400 people at the junction before I went for coffee," he said.
"The coffee shop was totally packed out. There were 50 to 100 in the shop. People in the street were preventing motorists from getting out. Vehicles were having difficulty getting through the crowd," he added.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1541
Published Date: 21-Sep-00
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