Day 5

Wednesday 19th

Sixteen funerals

In scenes of almost unbearable grief another sixteen funerals took place in Tyrone and Buncrana. The thousands attended the funerals and ministers searched to find words of comfort for the bereaved and the mourners who turned out to support them. In Buncrana a joint service was held for Oran, Sean and James. Two bishops and 24 priests led the funeral procession from St Mary's to the nearby cemetery where they were laid to rest in three graves, side-by-side.

Hospital reports

Fifty were still in hospital and two children, both Spaniards, remained in a critical condition at the Royal Victoria Hospital. A 75-year-old woman was said to be ill but stable at Belfast City Hospital. In total, more than 50 people injured in the blast were still being treated in hospitals with injuries ranging from fractures, burns, abdominal injuries and injuries to the head and face.

Call for more blood donors

Medics reiterated their call for donors to come forward to replenish blood supplies. More than 600 units of blood were used in the first two days to treat the victims of the bomb but more supplies were needed to treat those patients still in hospital.

Media restraint urged

Calls mounted for the media to respect the privacy of the grieving families of the Omagh dead. Lord Wakeham, chairman of the Press Complaints Commission said: "the courageous people of Omagh have suffered an unimaginable tragedy. Now they need time to come to terms with it, and to grieve in private".

Real IRA announcement

After they admitted responsibility for the bomb late on Monday night, the announcement by the Real IRA that it was suspending its activities was greeted with contempt, scepticism and anger. In a statement issued to the Irish News, the second in one day, the Real IRA first attempted to claim that the Omagh bomb warning was adequate and then that the target was commercial. Police later released this photograph showing the car.

Police appeal

Police appealed for further information about the maroon Vauxhall Cavalier used to ferry the bomb. The car, registration 91 DL 2554, was stolen in Carrickmacross in the Republic on Thursday.