British Broadcasting Corporation

Page last updated at 12:49 GMT, Tuesday, 8 April 2008 13:49 UK

Omagh 'carnage was horrendous'

Omagh bombing scene
Twenty-nine people were killed in the Omagh bombing

A police officer giving evidence to the Omagh bombing civil action has said it made the aftermath of another NI atrocity "pale into insignificance".

Sergeant Wesley McCracken described seeing bodies without limbs, some without clothes strewn across a tremendous flood of water.

He said it was "horrendous carnage", many times worse than the Droppin' Well bombing, which he also attended.

Two other police officers gave evidence on the second day of the civil action.

Giving her evidence, Constable Louise Stewart, who broke down, said what she saw that day was so horrific that words could never describe it.

In his cross-examination, Brett Lockhart QC questioned the officers about the time they had received the bomb warning and the discrepancies about its exact location.

The five accused Michael McKevitt - Seamus Daly, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Seamus McKenna - were not in court and will not be providing evidence. They all deny involvement in the bombing.

The men are being sued by relatives of some of the victims of the August 1998 atrocity.

Seventeen people, 11 of them soldiers, were killed by an INLA bomb at the Droppin' Well pub, Ballykelly, County Londonderry, on 6 December 1982.




SEE ALSO
Omagh civil case 'unprecedented'
07 Apr 08 |  Northern Ireland
Irish police called to Omagh case
15 Feb 08 |  Northern Ireland
Omagh civil case 'will go ahead'
10 Jan 08 |  Northern Ireland
The 29 victims of the Omagh bomb
20 Dec 07 |  Northern Ireland


FEATURES, VIEWS, ANALYSIS
China's economic roller-coaster divides a village
The legacy of Nicaragua's Sandinistas
Can Tom Watson win a major at 59?

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Explore the BBC

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Americas Africa Europe Middle East South Asia Asia Pacific