The injured came from all age groups. Babies, pensioners, students, mothers, pregnant women, teenagers and children. The youngest person in hospitals throughout the North is 13 months old and the eldest is aged 75.
More than 200 people were injured when the 500 lb car bomb exploded in Omagh town centre, with 75 remaining in hospitals throughout the North. Doctors say the physical scars for some patients will last many years. Some will require extensive plastic surgery. But while the physical scars may improve, the emotional and psychological scars will take longer to resolve, if they ever do. The emotional trauma suffered is incalculable. Many will be reminded on a daily basis of that fateful day when they catch their reflection in a shop window as they walk around Omagh's town centre. The Royal Victoria Hospital is treating some of the worst injured in the explosion, which caused loss of limbs, severe facial and body wounds, broken bones and extensive burns. Last night, the number of patients increased to 28 in Royal Victoria Hospital - 17 women, six men and four children (two girls and two boys) and a girl aged 13 months.
Five women, a man and two children are critical. The rest are stable. Eight have head injuries, seven have broken bones, seven have burns and fractures, and four have severe eye injuries. One is suffering from chest injuries.
In South Tyrone Hospital, Ms Nicola Emery, injured in the explosion, was celebrating the birth of her daughter on Thursday. She sustained cuts to her legs and blast injuries to her ears. Ms Ann Morrice (25) is receiving treatment for abdomen, arm and limb injuries caused by shrapnel. Mrs Imelda McCormick (36) sustained injuries to her arms and face and Ms Jacqueline Pearson (21), a student, has head, neck, back and chest injuries. Mrs Linda McCullough (29), a housewife, sustained injuries to her arms, face and chest. All are stable.
A 75-year-old woman and a young woman are ill but stable in the Belfast City Hospital, while the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, Belfast, has nine patients - seven women, a man and a girl. Some will require plastic surgery. Six women, including the girl, are described as satisfactory. One woman is serious but improving. The man's condition is described as satisfactory.
At Altnagelvin Hospital, in Derry, 16 people are still receiving treatment - nine women, one of whom is pregnant, a man, and six children. Two are described as ill and 14 are stable. In Tyrone County Hospital two women and two men are still detained, suffering from shrapnel injuries. All are described as stable. In Erne Hospital in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, seven women, two men and one girl are all stable.