On Saturday, the death toll from a gas station explosion that wrecked a small community in northwest Ireland grew to ten, and emergency personnel who sifted through the rubble reported they did not uncover any additional remains.
After Friday’s explosion at Creslough, County Donegal, Irish police reported that no one was still missing. Superintendent David Kelly stated that the evidence “points to a terrible accident” as the source of the explosion under investigation.
An Garda Siochana, the Irish police department, reported that the midafternoon explosion killed four men, three women, two teenagers, and a young girl. Eight people were hospitalized, one in severe condition, after the explosion damaged the Applegreen gas station in a 400-person village near the craggy Atlantic coast of Ireland.
Irish and Northern Irish first responders joined what police described as a “search and recovery” operation on Saturday. Saturday saw the use of sniffer dogs and a mechanized digger to remove mountains of trash from the site.
The explosion destroyed the gas station, which houses the village’s primary store and post office, damaged a neighboring apartment building, and smashed the windows of nearby residences.
“Blocks were flung a hundred yards away from the scene,” Dr. Paul Stewart, a local physician, told RTE. “The entire building front fell… Additionally, the first-floor roof crashed into the store. It’s a marvel that anyone escaped.”
On October 8, 2022, in Creeslough, Ireland, emergency services continue to work at the scene of an explosion at an Applegreen gas station. Charles McQuillan, courtesy of Getty Images
According to the Irish Prime Minister, it was one of the “darkest days for Donegal and the entire country.”
“People across this island will feel the same numbness and total sadness as the residents of Creeslough in response to this dreadful loss of life,” Martin added.
Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, who represents Donegal in the Irish parliament, stated that the fuel station was “the heart” of the local community due to its prominent location on the area’s key N56 road.
“People are stunned and numb,” he told the Irish broadcasting network RTE. Everyone’s concern is for the families of those who have lost loved ones and how they can provide support.
Pearse Doherty, another local lawmaker, stated that the town was in shock.
“Nobody ever imagined something like this could occur in a little hamlet where everyone knows each other,” he said. “Yesterday at quarter past three, children were leaving school and adults were preparing to collect their assistance checks. “For such a nightmare to materialize, it will take some time for that to settle in.”