The blast ripped through the Creeslough gas station on Friday. At least nine people died as a result of the explosion, in a village in the northwest of Ireland. Police said eight people had been hospitalized as “the search for other victims continues”.
Irish Police, Fire, Ambulance and Coastguard Services, Northern Ireland Air Ambulance Service and a team of specialists from the British province were on site on Saturday. Letterkenny University Hospital, 15 miles from the service station, was placed in an emergency situation and said in a statement it was caring for “multiple injuries”.
In a statement, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said his “thoughts and prayers (are) today with those who lost their lives and those who were injured in this devastating explosion”. “People across the island will be struck with the same sense of shock and utter devastation as the people of Creeslough at this tragic loss of life,” he said, thanking emergency service members who worked “all night under extremely traumatic circumstances”.