Girl, 5, and father among blast dead
A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl and her father are among the 10 people named as victims of the devastating explosion at a petrol station in Ireland.
Police are continuing to investigate the blast that ripped through the Applegreen service station and convenience store in Creeslough, Co Donegal, on Friday.
The huge explosion claimed the lives of 10 local people who have now been named by police.
Those who died were 48-year-old James O’flaherty, 24-year-old Jessica Gallagher, 49-year-old Martin Mcgill, 39-year-old Catherine O’donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan, 59-year-old Hugh Kelly, 49-year-old Martina Martin, 50-yearold Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, and 14-year-old Leona Harper.
Police said a man in his 20s remains in a critical condition at St James’s Hospital in Dublin.
The seven other surviving casualties continue to receive treatment in Letterkenny University Hospital and remain in a stable condition.
Irish premier Micheal Martin has met those who were admitted to hospital, the medical team which was on duty on the day of the explosion, and members of Letterkenny fire station.
Accompanying Mr Martin were Agriculture Minister and Donegal TD Charlie Mcconalogue and deputy leader Leo Varadkar.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis has offered his condolences to the people of Creeslough in a statement sent by his representative to the Bishop of Raphoe.
It read: “His Holiness Pope Francis was saddened to learn of the loss of life and destruction caused by the explosion in Creeslough and he expresses his spiritual closeness to all those suffering in the aftermath of this tragedy.
“While entrusting the deceased to the merciful love of almighty God, His Holiness implores the divine blessings of consolation and healing upon the injured, the displaced and the families coping with pain of loss.
“As a pledge of strength and peace in the lord, the Holy Father sends his blessing to all the people of Ireland.”
The remains of the deceased are at the hospital in Letterkenny where post-mortem examinations will continue over the next few days.
Police said results will not be released for operational reasons.
The Garda Technical Bureau, with assistance from other agencies, will continue to examine the scene, which remains cordoned off.
Garda Superintendent Liam Geraghty told reporters that what has happened will have “a huge impact to a small rural community”.
He said: “They are all local people. They are all very much involved in the community. They were all people who were shopping in their local shop.
“We have very, very young children. The schools are going to be impacted, the GAA clubs are going to be impacted, the local church, in general the community is going to be severely impacted by this incident.”