Creeslough grieves for seven adults and three children killed by blast

Ten red candles will continue to burn on the altar at St Michael’s Church in Creeslough through the week, one for each victim of a huge explosion that partly destroyed a local petrol station and surrounding buildings on Friday.

Residents of the small north Co Donegal village returned to schools and workplaces on Monday morning with the massive rescue effort that brought it to a standstill over the weekend at an end, a Garda investigation ongoing and a series of funerals to come.

The first will be that of Jessica Gallagher (24) in St. Michael’s Church, Creeslough, on Tuesday at 11am followed by that of Martin McGill (49) who will be buried after funeral mass on at 2pm in the same church. James O’Flaherty (48), a married father of one originally from Sydney, Australia but living in Dunfanaghy, will be buried following a funeral on Wednesday at St Mary’s Church in Bunbeg.

The aunt of Jessica Gallagher has told of her niece’s great pride and love for her locality. Speaking on Highland Radio, Dolores Gallagher also thanked the emergency services, neighbours, doctors and the families of other victims who had contacted them to offer their support and condolences.

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Dolores Gallagher said that it was obvious from the photographs that Jessica had been “the most beautiful young woman”.

Her niece was very artistic and had just qualified as a fashion designer and had been due to start her new job in Belfast today, Dolores Gallagher said, adding her niece had also just completed her first commission. “She was so proud of and loved her locality. She loved Creeslough so much.

“When she was a student in Paris one of her assignments was to work on something from home and she produced a beautiful picture of Muckish in the moonlight. We took her remains home yesterday in the moonlight.”

The explosion at the Applegreen service station, which shocked and bewildered the closely bound community, also claimed the lives of Catherine O’Donnell (39) and her son James Monaghan (13), Martin McGill (49), Jessica Gallagher (24), Martina Martin (49), Hugh Kelly (59), Leona Harper (14), Robert Garwe (50) and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe.

Shauna was a pupil at Scoil Mhuire in the village, where teachers and principal John O’Doherty met yesterday to prepare supports for the returning pupils. Other victims were past pupils of the small school.

The teenage victims, James and Leona, were students at Mulroy College in Milford, while Catherine O’Donnell and Martina Martin have children attending the school. The college has posted information on supporting children trying to understand grief on its website.

Jessica Gallagher, a fashion designer, was due to start a new job in Belfast today. Her boyfriend, whom she was visiting at his apartment in the complex, was airlifted to St James’s Hospital in Dublin where he remains in the specialist burns unit. Seven others were injured in the blast.

The site where it happened remained sealed off last night as gardaí continued a painstaking forensic examination.

The cause of the explosion has yet to be established. One focus of the investigation was a store of gas used for heating at the back of the premises.

Emergency services explained the rescue effort on Friday into Saturday was slowed by the danger of possible further collapse and explosion given the presence of fuel on-site.

The Irish Red Cross has set a fund to help the community in Creeslough. The fund is being established with the support of Applegreen and An Post. The public can make donations at www.redcross.ie. The web page will go live later on Monday.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin visited the village over the weekend, and President Michael D Higgins is expected in Creeslough early this week.

The rosary will be said at 10pm every night this week in St Michael’s Church, where the red candles remembering the deceased are burning. A number of vigils have and will continue to take place across the county.

“There is a powerful thing in coming together,” Bishop of Raphoe Alan McGuckian said. “There is something about the depth of the experience these people are going through that it is okay to be quiet and it’s good to be quiet with other people.”

Creeslough petrol station before and after the explosion

He said the “randomness” of Friday’s tragedy was deeply unsettling for everyone. “That scares us all deep down, that sense that it could have been me, it could have been someone I love. We live, our lives are frail, they are fragile.”

People leaving a Mass led by the bishop on Saturday were reluctant to talk, but those who did all spoke of hurt, shock and trauma.

“I knew most of them,” said one man in his 30s. “It’s a hard one when it comes to home, right next to where you grew up. It’s totally random. Anyone could have been there.”

An older man, visibly upset, said he had lost neighbours and friends. “It could have been my wife,” he said. “She was the last to leave the till. She wouldn’t have been 60 yards away when it exploded.”

Among those who arrived to help were two NHS doctors on a weekend away. Dr Maria Walls, a general medical senior house officer (SHO) at Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry, and Dr Kerry Bowsie, a surgical SHO in Craigavon hospital, were in Muck n Muffins cafe in Dunfanaghy when they heard of the explosion.

They assisted with setting up one of the triage stations ambulances and were there from 4pm on Friday until 8am on Saturday.

“We were ready to assess people but unfortunately by that stage already, unfortunately there was only one more person, who was brought out injured,” said Dr Walls.

“As the night went on, it seemed less likely we were going to get anyone else out alive, but you kind of held on to hope that maybe someone was way in a pocket that was protected, maybe there was something we could do.”