At least nine people have been killed in an explosion at a petrol station in County Donegal, northwest Ireland, police said on Saturday.
Garda Siochana Police said eight people had been hospitalized and that they “can now confirm nine deaths as a result of this incident.
“The search and recovery for additional victims at the site in the village of Creeslough is continuing,” it said.
The cause of the blast remained unknown and police have yet to announce the launch of an investigation while searching the rubble continues.
The death toll from Friday’s blast had already risen from three to seven overnight.
Rescue efforts by Irish emergency services lasted all night after the blast punctured a petrol station forecourt and a nearby apartment complex.
An aerial view taken after the explosion showed the destroyed gas station building.
Two two-story apartment buildings behind had collapsed, while the facade of a similar neighboring building was blown away.
Resident Kieran Gallagher, whose home is about 150 meters (500 feet) from the scene, said the explosion sounded like a “bomb”.
“I was in my house at the time and heard the explosion. I knew straight away it was something – it was like a bomb going off,” he told the BBC.
At a service at the local church on Saturday morning, Father John Joe Duffy said the congregation was hit with “a tsunami of grief”.
Many rescue vehicles remained on the scene overnight, including fire brigades from both sides of the border with British-run Northern Ireland.
Gardai and Civil Protection were also involved and a Coastguard helicopter flew some of the injured from Letterkenny University Hospital to the capital, Dublin.
– “Shocked and Stunned” –
The university hospital, about 15 miles from the blast, was transferred to an emergency room to treat “multiple injuries,” a statement said.
Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin said his “thoughts and prayers are today with those who lost their lives and those injured in the devastating blast”.
“The people of this island will be stunned by the same sense of shock and utter devastation as the people of Creeslough at this tragic loss of life,” he said.
Martin thanked the members of the emergency services who have worked non-stop “in extremely traumatic circumstances.”
Agriculture Secretary Charlie McConalogue, who represents North East Donegal in the Irish Parliament, compared the scenes to events during the island of Ireland’s decades-long sectarian conflict over British rule in Northern Ireland.
“People are shocked and stunned,” McConalogue told Irish broadcaster RTE.
“The scenes from the event are reminiscent of the images from The Troubles years ago in terms of the scene at the scene and the damage and debris.”
Creeslough is about 50 kilometers from the border with Northern Ireland and has about 400 inhabitants.
The Applegreen service station is on the N56 road, which circles the northern tip of the Republic of Ireland.
Applegreen tweeted that the news was “devastating.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the deceased, those injured and the wider Creeslough community,” the company said.
Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins expressed his “shock” in an official statement.
“This tragedy is a terrible blow to a community that is deeply connected and where every loss and hurt will be felt by every member of the community and far beyond,” he said.
