Donegal explosion: Girl, 5, and her father killed in petrol station blast – as all 10 victims named
A five-year-old girl and her father were among 10 people killed in the devastating explosion at a petrol station in Ireland, as the identities of all the victims were revealed.
A mother and her 13-year-old son were also among the dead following the blast in the village of Creeslough on Friday afternoon, in what has been described as a “freak accident”.
In a news conference on Sunday, police said the victims were James O Flaherty, 48, Jessica Gallagher, 24, Martin McGill, 49, Catherine O Donnell, 39, and her son James Monaghan, 13, Hugh Kelly, 59, Martina Martin, 49, Robert Garwe, 50, and his daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, aged five, and 14-year-old Leona Harper.
Leona Harper, 14
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Petrol station blast victims named
A man in his 20s is in a critical condition in hospital in Dublin, while seven other people are being treated at Letterkenny University Hospital and are described as being in a stable condition.
Tributes have been paid to Leona, with Letterkenny Rugby Club describing her as a “talented rugby player” and an “important part of our U14 girls’ team” in a post on their Facebook page.
Leona’s father Hugh wrote underneath the post: “The past 24 hours have been nothing short of hell.
“Leona loved rugby, although this year she was taking time out for boxing. But her first love was Letterkenny Rugby Club.”
Shauna Flanagan Garwe, aged five, was killed in the blast with her father Robert
Robert Garwe, 50
Leona and fellow victim James Monaghan were pupils at Mulroy College, as were a number of those injured in the blast.
The school’s principal Fiona Temple said: “We as a school community are devastated on hearing of the tragedy and the fatal outcome for our two beautiful students and our cherished parents.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all the families and the Creeslough community at this time.
“We are numbed by this overwhelming sadness and will work together to support all members of our school community in the coming days, weeks and months ahead.”
Catherine O Donnell, 39., and her son James Monaghan, 13 years
Martina Martin, 49
Glenswilly Gaelic Athletic Association posted in memory of Ms Martin, saying the club had been “shocked” to learn of her death in the disaster.
Garda Superintendent Liam Geraghty said on Sunday that the scene of the explosion is still being examined and remains cordoned off.
Hugh Kelly, 59
Martin McGill, 49
Post mortem examinations on the victims have started and will continue over the next few days, although results will not be released for “operational reasons”.
Mr Geraghty said: “It is a huge impact for a small rural community – they were all local people, all very much involved in the community, all shopping in their local shop.
“But it is a very strong community, as seen here on Friday afternoon…so I’m sure the community will come together and will support each other.”
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Jessica Gallagher, 24
James O’Flaherty, 48
The Pope has offered his condolences to the people of Ireland in the wake of the explosion.
A statement sent by his representative to Bishop of Raphoe Alexander McGuckian reads: “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.”
Bishop McGuckian earlier told Sunday mass at St Michael’s Church that the community of Creeslough was “living through a nightmare of shock and horror”.
He added: “Over the last couple of days as people gathered in groups to talk about what has happened here these last days, the one word that stands out for me in relation to the explosion is something somebody said.
“It is so random, they said. And what she was referring to was, anybody could have been caught up in that. There’s something deeply shocking and upsetting about what life throws up, can throw up.”
Mr Geraghty said there had been “very traumatic scenes” on Friday, adding that emergency services personnel had come from across Co Donegal as well as from Northern Ireland to help.
World
‘Widespread sexual violence’ took place during Hamas’s 7 October attacks, report by Israeli experts says
A newly released report led by Israeli legal and gender experts presents detailed evidence alleging “widespread and systematic” sexual violence during the Hamas-led terror attack on 7 October.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of rape and sexual violence
The findings, published by the Dinah Project, argue that these acts amount to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), and assert that “Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war”.
The report draws on 18 months of investigation and is based on survivor testimonies, eyewitness accounts, and interviews with first responders, morgue personnel and healthcare professionals.
According to the Dinah Project, the documented patterns – such as forced nudity, gang rapes, genital mutilation, and threats of forced marriage – indicate a deliberate and coordinated use of sexual violence by Hamas operatives during the attack.
Reported incidents span at least six locations, including the Nova music festival, and several kibbutzim in southern Israel.
A destroyed car near the police station in Sderot, following the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Pic: AP
One section of the report describes victims “found fully or partially naked from the waist down, with their hands tied behind their backs and/or to structures such as trees and poles, and shot”.
At the Nova music festival and surrounding areas, the investigators found “reasonable grounds to believe” that multiple women were raped or gang-raped before being killed.
The report’s findings are consistent with earlier investigations by the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
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The UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict previously concluded that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” CRSV took place during the attack.
Destroyed vehicles near the grounds of the Supernova electronic music festival. Pic: AP
Significantly, the Dinah Project urges the international community to officially recognise the use of sexual violence by Hamas as a deliberate strategy of war and calls on the United Nations to add Hamas to its list of parties responsible for conflict-related sexual violence.
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The nature and scale of sexual violence on 7 October have been a subject of intense controversy, with some accusing parties of weaponising the narrative for political ends.
This report seeks to confront what its authors call “denial, misinformation, and global silence,” and to provide justice for the victims.
Hamas has denied that its fighters have used sexual violence and mistreated female hostages.
World
Israeli soldiers ‘psychologically broken’ after ‘confronting the reality’ in Gaza, UN expert says
A UN expert has said some young soldiers in the Israeli Defence Forces are being left “psychologically broken” after “confront[ing] the reality among the rubble” when serving in Gaza.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, was responding to a Sky News interview with an Israeli solider who described arbitrary killing of civilians in Gaza.
She told The World with Yalda Hakim that “many” of the young people fighting in Gaza are “haunted by what they have seen, what they have done”.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Ms Albanese said. “This is not a war, this is an assault against civilians and this is producing a fracture in many of them.
“As that soldier’s testimony reveals, especially the youngest among the soldiers have been convinced this is a form of patriotism, of defending Israel and Israeli society against this opaque but very hard felt enemy, which is Hamas.
“But the thing is that they’ve come to confront the reality among the rubble of Gaza.”
An Israeli soldier directs a tank near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel. Pic: AP
Being in Gaza is “probably this is the first time the Israeli soldiers are awakening to this,” she added. “And they don’t make sense of this because their attachment to being part of the IDF, which is embedded in their national ideology, is too strong.
“This is why they are psychologically broken.”
Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman who is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said he believes the Sky News interview with the former IDF solider “reflects one part of how ugly, difficult and horrible fighting in a densely populated, urban terrain is”.
“I think [the ex-soldier] is reflecting on how difficult it is to fight in such an area and what the challenges are on the battlefield,” he said.
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Ex-IDF spokesperson: ‘No distinction between military and civilians’
‘An economy of genocide’
Ms Albanese, one of dozens of independent UN-mandated experts, also said her most recent report for the human rights council has identified “an economy of genocide” in Israel.
The system, she told Hakim, is made up of more than 60 private sector companies “that have become enmeshed in the economy of occupation […] that have Israel displace the Palestinians and replace them with settlers, settlements and infrastructure Israel runs.”
Israel has rejected allegations of genocide in Gaza, citing its right to defend itself after Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023.
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‘Israel has shifted towards economy of genocide’
The companies named in Ms Albanese’s report are in, but not limited to, the financial sector, big tech and the military industry.
“These companies can be held responsible for being directed linked to, or contributing, or causing human rights impacts,” she said. “We’re not talking of human rights violations, we are talking of crimes.”
“Some of the companies have engaged in good faith, others have not,” Ms Albanese said.
Read more:
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The companies she has named include American technology giant Palantir, which has issued a statement to Sky News.
It said it is “not true” that Palantir “is the (or a) developer of the ‘Gospel’ – the AI-assisted targeting software allegedly used by the IDF in Gaza, and that we are involved with the ‘Lavender’ database used by the IDF for targeting cross-referencing”.
“Both capabilities are independent of and pre-ate Palantir’s announced partnership with the Israeli Defence Ministry,” the statement added.
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