Irish service station destroyed by ‘devastating’ blast; three killed
An explosion at a gas station in County Donegal, Ireland, on Friday resulted in the deaths of three individuals, while rescuers continued their search for survivors far into the night.
The incident was described as “a terrible explosion” in “a very busy location” by Sinn Fein lawmaker Pearse Doherty. Police said they were not yet in a position to provide any information on casualties and did not address the cause of the explosion in a statement that was released late on Friday.
The injured were taken by ferry to Letterkenny University Hospital, which announced that the incident had set off a major emergency protocol and that it was currently dealing with a large number of injured patients.
Around 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the town of Letterkenny, in the vicinity of the village of Creeslough, the explosion occurred at an Applegreen gas station shortly after 3 p.m. local time.
The forecourt, where numerous automobiles were parked, had rubble spread across it. Photos from the site revealed a residential apartment above the gas station’s store with walls blown out and a partially collapsed roof.
A professional rescue crew was dispatched to the location from adjacent Northern Ireland, according to the Irish Coast Guard, and its nearby helicopter helped the emergency services.
According to Doherty, the “huge explosion” could be heard for miles around. Hours later, Doherty claimed, people were still trapped inside the structure, albeit some had made touch with the outside emergency services.
“Everyone is hoping for the best but this is a devastating explosion, it’s ripped right through this building and this was a very busy location at that point in time,” he told national broadcaster RTE from the scene.
(With inputs from agencies)
