3.10PM AUGUST 15TH 1998
3.10PM AUGUST 15TH 1998
It was carnival day, crowds celebrated. In a split second everything changed utterly. Here the full horror of the Omagh bomb unfolds second by second in a home video.
(Text accompanying stills from amateur video footage)
1. A shocked woman leads a stunned boy to safety. His right hand is bloodied and he has cuts to his head and face. It is just seconds after the blast wrecked peace hopes
2. On a nearby pavement, a stricken young girl who has suffered horrific facial injuries, is tended where she fell by an older woman who has rushed from a shop
3. Smoke billowing around immediately after the car bomb exploded blocks out the light, concealing the true extent of the horror from the struggling rescuers
4. Moments later, as the smoke finally clears, this young woman emerges from the scene of the carnage in agony, clasping her blood-soaked head in her hands
5. Near the heart of the explosion, two horrified women cling to each other for a little comfort among the carnage, while other people rush to help the wounded
6. Just yards away, the true extent of the terrorist outrage becomes clearer as dead and injured victims litter the streets of this once-sleepy Co Tyrone town
7. At the intersection of High Street and Market Street shoppers and carnival-goers take in the aftermath of the worst bomb outrage in 30 years of the troubles
8. This dazed boy has a head wound and is being taken away for treatment. He is one of many children killed or injured on a day that should have been filled with joy
9. This man suffered a severe cut to the head. The faces of the men around him show the confusion, the shock and the sheer disbelief of the people of Omagh
10. Two women victims comfort each other as they tend their wounds. Behind them an ambulance waits for more of the hundreds injured
11. Where there were no ambulances, people used any vehicle they could find. Here a victim is lifted into a trader's van to be ferried to hospital
12. Yards away they make do with a blanket. Behind these helpers is chaos. Some people were helping victims, others searching frantically for loved ones
13. Two policemen give a woman a chair lift. Earlier police had led the townsfolk to what they thought was safety..but they were victims of a heartless terrorist trap
14. Each blue bag covers one of the terrorists' victims....a graphic reminder amid the devastation of the false bomb warning that caused so much carnage
15. The girl in red is desperate to find her missing mum. Her friends comfort her. But the horror of Saturday August 15 will be forever etched on their young minds
It was carnival day, crowds celebrated. In a split second everything changed utterly. Here the full horror of the Omagh bomb unfolds second by second in a home video.
(Text accompanying stills from amateur video footage)
1. A shocked woman leads a stunned boy to safety. His right hand is bloodied and he has cuts to his head and face. It is just seconds after the blast wrecked peace hopes
2. On a nearby pavement, a stricken young girl who has suffered horrific facial injuries, is tended where she fell by an older woman who has rushed from a shop
3. Smoke billowing around immediately after the car bomb exploded blocks out the light, concealing the true extent of the horror from the struggling rescuers
4. Moments later, as the smoke finally clears, this young woman emerges from the scene of the carnage in agony, clasping her blood-soaked head in her hands
5. Near the heart of the explosion, two horrified women cling to each other for a little comfort among the carnage, while other people rush to help the wounded
6. Just yards away, the true extent of the terrorist outrage becomes clearer as dead and injured victims litter the streets of this once-sleepy Co Tyrone town
7. At the intersection of High Street and Market Street shoppers and carnival-goers take in the aftermath of the worst bomb outrage in 30 years of the troubles
8. This dazed boy has a head wound and is being taken away for treatment. He is one of many children killed or injured on a day that should have been filled with joy
9. This man suffered a severe cut to the head. The faces of the men around him show the confusion, the shock and the sheer disbelief of the people of Omagh
10. Two women victims comfort each other as they tend their wounds. Behind them an ambulance waits for more of the hundreds injured
11. Where there were no ambulances, people used any vehicle they could find. Here a victim is lifted into a trader's van to be ferried to hospital
12. Yards away they make do with a blanket. Behind these helpers is chaos. Some people were helping victims, others searching frantically for loved ones
13. Two policemen give a woman a chair lift. Earlier police had led the townsfolk to what they thought was safety..but they were victims of a heartless terrorist trap
14. Each blue bag covers one of the terrorists' victims....a graphic reminder amid the devastation of the false bomb warning that caused so much carnage
15. The girl in red is desperate to find her missing mum. Her friends comfort her. But the horror of Saturday August 15 will be forever etched on their young minds
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/018
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
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