Inquest visits Omagh bomb scene

Coroner John Leckey (front right) with inquest legal teams

Omagh inquest: Day 5

Relatives stayed away as inquest coroner John Leckey examined the scene of the Real IRA Omagh bombing which left 29 people dead.

Lawyers and inquest officials spent 20 minutes with him walking around the centre of the County Tyrone town which is still being re-built after being devastated by the dissident republican bombing on 15 August 1998.

The group set out from the steps of Omagh courthouse at the top of the town, walked down High Street and into Market Street to the site of the bomb, and back again.

At the site of the tragedy withered floral tributes were still fixed to the hoardings surrounding the area where buildings were shattered by the 500lb car bomb.

New tarmac on a patch of road marked the spot of the crater blasted by the force of the bomb, and from which a number of bodies were recovered.

Sad reminders

Mr Leckey was shown Market Street arcade where police placed the bodies of a dozen of the dead in the immediate aftermath of the bombing.

Yards away, the party saw Moira's dress shop where five more bodies were placed before a temporary mortuary could be set up.

The group was escorted by police officers who named and pointed out the side roads and alleyways police used to try to evacuate the area.

It put into context the scores of maps and pictures of the area which the inquest has studied during the first four days of often harrowing evidence.

After the walkabout, the inquest returned to Omagh leisure centre for a fifth day of hearing evidence.

Shoppers thought bomb was hoax

The inquest also heard that people were still trying to shop yards from the car-bomb just minutes before it exploded.

A traffic warden gave evidence that she and members of the public believed the alert was only a scare.

She said she walked past the car, which it was later discovered had contained the bomb.

A woman went into a shop, despite being told that there was a bomb-alert. Others were still trying to park in the area.

The warden was injured when the bomb exploded just a few yards away from where she was diverting traffic.

A police constable gave evidence about the aftermath of the explosion.

He identified one of the bodies lying in the street as Aidan Gallagher, whose father is now chairman of the Omagh Self Help and Support Group for victims relatives.

The constable also said he saw an injured woman shouting for her baby.

He began to search rubble for the infant and found three people half buried. One person was already dead.