Girl, 5, and her dad along with mum and son among those killed in Cresslough petrol station blast

Mark Macfadden captures the raw emotion and shock among residents in the close-knit town

A mother and her son along with a five-year-old girl and her dad were among the 10 victims of the devastating petrol station explosion in the Republic of Ireland, police have confirmed.

Friday’s blast at the service station in Creeslough, Co Donegal is being treated by Irish police as a “tragic accident”.

The huge explosion claimed the lives of four men, three women, two teenagers – a boy and girl – and the little girl.

One man remains in critical condition in a Dublin hospital while seven others are receiving treatment in Letterkenny and said to be in a stable condition.

On Sunday An Garda Síochána released the names of those killed.

They were:

  • James O Flaherty, 48 years

  • Jessica Gallagher, 24 years

  • Martin McGill, 49 years

  • Catherine O Donnell, 39 years and her son James Monaghan, 13 years

  • Hugh Kelly, 59 years

  • Martina Martin, 49 years

  • Robert Garwe, 50 years and his daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, 5 years

  • Leona Harper, 14 years.

Pope Francis has offered his condolences to the people of Creeslough, Co Donegal, in the wake of a service station explosion that left 10 people dead. A statement sent by his representative to Bishop of Raphoe Alexander McGuckian 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.” Garda Superintendent Liam Geraghty in a press conference on Sunday afternoon 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. “But it is a very strong community as was seen here on Friday afternoon with the response of families, friends and neighbours who came to people’s rescue. “So I am sure the community will come together and will support each other.”

Fr Joe Duffy lights 10 candles for each of the victims.

Superintendent Geraghty said there were “very traumatic scenes” on Friday afternoon. “Emergency responders from right across Co Donegal and wider and our colleagues in Northern Ireland responded to very, very traumatic scenes, and then processed into dealing with recovery of fatalities at the scene,” he said. He said most of the police involved are local. “These are the people they work with and the people that they meet on a daily basis,” he said.

Victims of Cresslough petrol station explosion

James O Flaherty was one of 10 people who died in Friday's explosion in Co Donegal.

Martin McGill, 49, has been described as a "brilliant person" by his neighbours. He was one of 10 victims of the Co Donegal explosion.

Catherine O Donnell, 39 years and her son James Monaghan, 13 years, died in the explosion in Co Donegal.

Creeslough explosion victim Martina Martin, aged 49.

Robert Garwe
Shauna Flanagan Garwe, aged 5, was one of the 10 victims of the explosion.
Leona Harper

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