AUDIO footage from the harrowing moments after the Omagh bomb exploded on Market Street on August 15, 1998 has been played at the public inquiry into the atrocity.
A number of photos of the devastation caused by the explosion – which claimed the lives of 31 people including a woman pregnant with twins – were also shown.
The photos were taken sometime after the blast and did not show any of those killed or injured.
The pictures included the wreckage of the maroon-colour Vauxhall Cavalier in which the 500 llb bomb was contained, and images of the bomb site from closeby in Market Street and Campsie Road.
“Those who had previously been in the bomb car and scout car were now together in the scout car sitting together.”
The crater created by the blast was also photographed.
One person believed to be from the RUC is shown saying “this has exploded’. Another says ‘need assistance to the bottom of the town’.
Edited CCTV footage from inside McElroy’s showshop was also displayed, but again did not include any images of those killed or injured as a result of the explosion.
The families of some of those killed have been in attendance throughout the public inquiry to date.
Opportunity
They and others attending the inquiry in person were given the opportunity to leave prior to the images and audio being shown.
The inquiry legal team described the six-minute segment as ‘distressing’.
The first call that something had happened was from an Alarm Monitoring Company to Omsgh RUC at six minutes past three, around two minutes after the blast.
Telephone communications and computer systems were disrupted as a result of the explosion at Market Street, some 360 yards from the local courthouse.
The Northern Ireland Fire Service was called at 3.09pm. It dispatched vehicles from Omagh, Irvinestown and Fintona stations.
At 3.11pm, a call was received from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.
Its units were immediately sent from the Omagh Ambulance Base and Tyrone County Hospital to the scene.
Other units were sent from the Strabane and Altnagevlin crews.
Around the same time, the army at Lisanelly Barracks were deployed following a response from Omagh RUC.
Nicholas de la Poer KC of the inquiry legal team praised the heroism of the police, emergency services and civilians who went to help those caught up in the bomb.
He went on to state that at 15.13, those who had carried out the explosion were ‘fleeing the absolute devastation of the atrocity which they had created’.
“Those who had previously been in the bomb car and scout car were now together in the scout car sitting together,” he added.
“At 15.13 the likely conclusion is that they had separated by then.”
A number of phone calls between handsets provisionally attributed to those believed to have been involved in the plot to bomb Omagh were described by Mr de la Poer as ‘potentially significant.’
He added that they included a call lasting just under four minutes at 3.26pm between Seamus Daly – one of those held liable for the bomb in a civil action – and Sean Hoey.
Mr de la Poer said that this call had taken place ‘just’ 22 minutes’ after the detonation.
A series of calls between those who have been described as being linked to evidential activity in connection with the bomb were also detailed.
Landline
These calls took place between a number of landsets and landline numbers until late on the night of August 15.
They were identified from data contained with phone masts close to Dundalk, Ardee, Castleblayney, Clontibret, Emyvale and Aughnacloy, and then the Pigeon Top and Omagh College of Further Education masts.
The inquiry was told that the journey taken by the scout car and the car carrying the bomb was first picked up by a call using a cell-site near Castleblayney at 12.41pm on the afternoon of August 15, and that the final calls picked up by cell-sites close to Omagh was at around 2pm.