Gardaí investigating the cause of an explosion in Creeslough, Co Donegal, last week that killed 10 people are to bring in blast experts from overseas to assist their inquiries.
While investigators are keeping an open mind as they attempt to establish what happened, it is strongly suspected that a gas leak caused the explosion at a complex that housed an Applegreen service station, apartments and other businesses.
There were no obvious signs of fire or flame damage at the site, but Garda sources said this did not undermine the main line of inquiry, which has been focused on an accidental gas leak.
A man, aged in his 20s, who was among eight people injured in the incident, was in critical condition at St James’s Hospital in Dublin where he was being treated for severe burns.
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Postmortems on the remains of the 10 deceased people have begun at Letterkenny University Hospital, under the direction of Assistant State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers.
The examinations were expected to take several days to complete but the results were unlikely to influence the direction of the Garda inquiry.
Investigators believe the explosion occurred in an apartment beside the petrol station. The Applegreen outlet was partially demolished by the force of, and debris arising from, the explosion.
James O’Flaherty (48), Jessica Gallagher (24), Martin McGill (49), Catherine O’Donnell (39) and her son James Monaghan (13), Hugh Kelly (59), Martina Martin (49), Robert Garwe (50) and his daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe (5), and Leona Harper (14) died a as a result of the incident.
Gardaí have gathered CCTV images of the explosion, recorded from a camera looking on to the service station and adjoining apartment building just outside Creeslough village. Those images, which were used to help pinpoint the sections of the site where the victims and survivors were located, appear to support the theory that the explosion emanated from one of the apartments.
Garda sources said there was no evidence to suggest foul play. They said a very detailed Garda-led investigation was under way and that it would be bolstered by technical experts from the UK with specific experience in the determining the sources and causes of explosions.
The absence of any suspicion of foul play means the Garda investigation would likely only be used to inform the coroners’ inquests into the deaths of the 10 victims, sources said. However, they added that any finding in the inquiry would be considered, including criminal culpability, though there was no clear sign of that at this stage.
Garry Martin, director of emergency services at Donegal County Council, said although gas had been discussed as one possible source of the explosion, and this would be actively investigated, other lines of inquiry would also be explored. “I think it’s important not to just assume, because there was a gas cylinder storage tank at the location, that that was the root cause of it.”
The site of the explosion was significantly disturbed during the search-and-rescue operation on Friday and over the weekend, though gardaí said evidence of any gas explosion, if that was the cause, should present itself as the damaged structures are more closely examined
The site is likely to remain sealed off for a prolonged period, during which time it will be examined by the Garda Technical Bureau and other experts the investigating team brings in.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Garda headquarters said the investigation was being co-ordinated from an incident room at Milford Garda station. It added that gardaí were investigating “all of the circumstances” into the cause of the fatal explosion at about 3.20pm on Friday.
“The Garda Technical Bureau, with assistance from other agencies, will continue to examine the scene, which remains cordoned off. These examinations are likely to continue over the coming days. Traffic diversions on the N56 at the scene of the incident remain in place.”
