‘It was like watching a horror film slowly unfold’
Businessman Gordon Burnside (now 57), a member of the Omagh Protestant Boys band, said he was the very first person on the scene that night. The then 27-year-old been travelling in a bus with his band colleagues when they came upon the atrocity. Mr Burnside had previously worked in a shop at Lisanally Army Camp and recognised some of the injured soldiers.
He said: “I can still hear the crying, and I can smell that terrible smell of burning flesh; it never, ever leaves you.
“We’d stopped our bus for a comfort break when I saw the bus carrying the soldiers pass us.
“Afterwards, as we were driving along the road, we saw a flash in the sky in front of us. We thought it was lightning. Then we came round the corner.
“I was the first person on the scene that night. I realised very quickly that it was a bomb site.
“At some point another bus arrived too. I ran back from the wreckage and went into each of the buses, calling for help.
“It was awful to look at. There were about 30 on our bus; the youngest were only 10 or 11, so we tried to protect them from the devastation, but the vast majority of band members got out.
“I went right up to the debris. I could see the torn metal of the bus at the side of the road. All I could hear was wailing and crying all around me.
“I helped one of the injured men to sit up, and told him that I’d be back in a minute. My eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly.
“I had some medical experience. We used the band uniforms to wrap around the soldiers to keep them warm and we used our shirts to make bandages.
“Three or four of us got underneath the bus and started pulling soldiers who were trapped from under it.
“In the back of our minds, the whole time, we were worried that another bomb might go off. We were also worried that the IRA were hiding somewhere in the darkness. Some people voiced their fears but I said to keep on going.
“I stayed there until it was daylight. It was extremely scary because it was dark. Most of us who helped the soldiers still get flashbacks of that night.
“Everyone says they can still hear the crying. It was like watching a horror picture slowly unfold as the sun rose.
“I remember how quiet and still it felt... and all you could hear was crying and moaning. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life and it’s something I’d never want to experience again.
“Today I just wonder what it was all for? It was so pointless. Over the years I’ve put it to the back of my mind but I know that what I saw that night damaged me psychologically.
“I get flashbacks. We all still hear the crying; it sounded like a banshee wailing in the night. And I still recall the smell of burning flesh in the air; it was so, so strong. If I close my eyes I can take myself back to that point in time. It never leaves you. I will keep on dealing with it until the day I die.”