Creeslough explosion: 'My first thought was getting people away'

The close-knit community in Creeslough has been reeling since the explosion at a service station

While many would have understandably run away, they ran towards.

They were lorry drivers, butchers, business owners - ordinary people in this rural community who put their own lives in danger in a desperate attempt to save others as emergency crews rushed to the scene.

These are stories of heroism and outstanding bravery in the aftermath of the explosion in Creeslough, County Donegal, in which 10 people died.

For these people, there was an overwhelming urge to help in the midst of unimaginable horror.

Colin Kilpatrick, a delivery driver, was opposite the service station where the explosion occurred when it happened.

"I came running over and I heard this wee girl squealing, I'll never forget that. She was just crying at the top of her lungs looking for her friend or sister," he told BBC News NI.

After he got the girl away from the scene, Mr Kilpatrick said his worry turned to those who remained and the potential fire hazard caused by the fuel.

Colin Kilpatrick was opposite the service station when the explosion happened

"My first thought was just needing to get people away," he said.

"We tried to help people, I started pulling people out with a few others.

"Some we could help out and some…well, some we couldn't."

Mr Kilpatrick tells me he is still coming to terms with the shock over what has happened here, but says he is being comforted by his family and people he knows in the village.

Workers and police officers at the scene of the explosion on Monday morning

Patrick O'Donnell was working as a butcher in the service station's shop at the time of the explosion.

"I was at the back of the shop when it happened... it's terrible, just terrible," he said, after a Mass held in the village on Monday morning.

"I knew most of them, God rest them.

"We evacuated right away, myself and a few others.

"Then I went back in to take out an old lady. She's ok. I went back in another time just to check - I didn't realise how bad it was, but I couldn't get to anybody."

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He said there were a lot of people who came to the scene to help. They were the "real heroes", he added.

"I'm praying for them as well because they went through a lot."

'We knew we couldn't deal with it ourselves'

Businessman Brian Dolan was one of the first people on the scene, rushing the few hundred yards from his office to help in the immediate rescue efforts.

"You just went into autopilot trying to help your community," he said.

"There were dozens of people doing what they could do.

"We knew we couldn't deal with it ourselves - it was beyond us and people knew that [emergency] services were going to be needed.

"We were trying to clear places for them and trying to clear a path into the building."

He said people began clearing the debris without considering the potential dangers to themselves.

"I don't think anybody that was there on the day was actually thinking about what they were doing."

Lorcan Roarty helped bring people out of the building

Lorcan Roarty is the owner of the campsite in Creeslough, only a couple of hundred metres from service station.

He recalls a day that began like any other before it became a nightmare after he heard "an almighty explosion".

"There was a number of people at the forecourt working frantically to do what they could," he told BBC Radio Foyle.

"A couple of us went out the back of the building and we were able to recover a few people.

"We worked frantically until the emergency services arrived and I suppose, rightfully so, they took us back and told us the building was unsafe.

"From then on, we were left pretty much helpless, we came back to the Coffee Pod and Wild Atlantic Camp where everybody was in shock - we weren't sure what to do."

'Girls worked through the night'

Mr Roarty, with the backing of his staff, decided to keep their small coffee shop open.

The staff, working through the night and into the early hours of Saturday morning, provided free food and drinks to emergency service crews and locals who helped in rescue efforts.

"We were delighted we were able to assist in a small way… but unfortunately nothing is ever enough in situations like this," he said.

These stories - those who were first on the scene, the coffee shop workers who worked through the night, the church leaders who offered words of comfort to devastated families - are just some of the tales of heroism and solidarity that have emerged from Creeslough in the past few days.

In many ways, every single member of this tight-knit 400-strong community went above and beyond when their village needed them most.