INQUESTS HEAR HARROWING ACCOUNTS OF BOMBING
Inquests hear harrowing accounts of bombing
By JOHN McCUSKER
HARROWING accounts of how rescuers dealt with the casualties of the August 1998 car bomb in Market Street were recounted during the Inquests into the deaths which were held in Omagh Leisure Centre during September.
The Minor Hall of the complex was transformed into a coroner's courtroom, at a cost of �1.5 million, for the hearings which lasted a total of four weeks.
Twenty-nine men women and children died in the blast which also claimed the lives of two unborn baby girls. Hundreds more were injured.
During the hearings, special provision was made for the families of those who died. And a team of 60 trauma counsellors offered help and support to relatives who lost loved ones in the atrocity.
In his opening remarks, Coroner John Leckey said that due to the horrific nature of the explosion, the true number of casualties from the bomb may never be known.
The hearings, he said, would be a difficult time for the families and it was inevitable that the Inquests would resurrect many sad and unpleasant memories for those concerned.
Police and civilian witnesses who arrived in Market Street moments after the explosion gave harrowing evidence of the scenes which met them.
Many broke down as they gave details of how they came across the dead and injured scattered throughout the street and buried beneath the rubble of buildings.
Photographic evidence and scenes from three amateur videos shot in the immediate aftermath of the explosion brought a stunned silence to the courtroom, with many of the families unable to cope with the horrific details.
Legal arguments dominated much of the proceedings with Mr Leckey ruling out an intervention by the newly formed Human Rights Commission. The Coroner also declined a request to call Omagh councillor Francis Mackey, a member of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee, as a witness.
As the Inquests drew to a conclusion, the Monaghan and Grimes families, who lost three generations in the blast, begged for an assurance from the bombers that no further atrocities would ever be contemplated again.
By JOHN McCUSKER
HARROWING accounts of how rescuers dealt with the casualties of the August 1998 car bomb in Market Street were recounted during the Inquests into the deaths which were held in Omagh Leisure Centre during September.
The Minor Hall of the complex was transformed into a coroner's courtroom, at a cost of �1.5 million, for the hearings which lasted a total of four weeks.
Twenty-nine men women and children died in the blast which also claimed the lives of two unborn baby girls. Hundreds more were injured.
During the hearings, special provision was made for the families of those who died. And a team of 60 trauma counsellors offered help and support to relatives who lost loved ones in the atrocity.
In his opening remarks, Coroner John Leckey said that due to the horrific nature of the explosion, the true number of casualties from the bomb may never be known.
The hearings, he said, would be a difficult time for the families and it was inevitable that the Inquests would resurrect many sad and unpleasant memories for those concerned.
Police and civilian witnesses who arrived in Market Street moments after the explosion gave harrowing evidence of the scenes which met them.
Many broke down as they gave details of how they came across the dead and injured scattered throughout the street and buried beneath the rubble of buildings.
Photographic evidence and scenes from three amateur videos shot in the immediate aftermath of the explosion brought a stunned silence to the courtroom, with many of the families unable to cope with the horrific details.
Legal arguments dominated much of the proceedings with Mr Leckey ruling out an intervention by the newly formed Human Rights Commission. The Coroner also declined a request to call Omagh councillor Francis Mackey, a member of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee, as a witness.
As the Inquests drew to a conclusion, the Monaghan and Grimes families, who lost three generations in the blast, begged for an assurance from the bombers that no further atrocities would ever be contemplated again.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0726
Published Date: 04-Jan-01
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