Final portrait of Omagh bombing victim to be heard at inquiry

THE heroic efforts of those who rushed to the aid of people injured and killed by the Omagh bomb moments after the explosion on the afternoon of August 15,1998, will be highlighted when the public inquiry into the atrocity resumes today.

It is expected that doctors, nurses and ordinary civilians who were in the area, along with first responders including police and fire service personnel, will be among those providing testimonies at the Strule Arts Centre from this morning.

This is the fourth week of the inquiry into what was the largest loss of life during 30 years of violence in the North.

Set up by the British Government last year after decades of campaigning, the inquiry will decide whether or not the bomb could have been prevented.

There were 31 people, including a woman pregnant with unborn twins, killed on Market Street that day in 1998.

More than 250 more were injured, and the lasting impact of the explosion has been evident in the physical and mental injuries which continue to affect so many people 26 years on.

Over the past three weeks, the inquiry has heard ‘pen portraits’ commemorating the lives of the victims.

This afternoon, it is expected that the final ‘pen portrait’ will mark the life of 12 year-old James Barker.

He was part of a group from Buncrana, Co Donegal who travelled to the town on that day.

Harrowing evidence about the devastation caused by the deaths and the impact on their families has been heard.

The testimonies from those who were physically and mentally injured has also been immensely powerful.

The statements of those who helped in the moments after the explosion will also paint a vivid picture of what happened.

In the minutes and hours after the explosion, cars, buses, police vehicles and ambulances were all used to ferry the injured to the Tyrone County Hospital.

Those injured were then transferred to the then Erne Hospital in Enniskillen, Altnagelvin in Derry, the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.