“The world stood still” then on the ohm car bomb, told an investigation – Irvine Times

Giving evidence of an investigation into the bombing in Omi, Jim Sharki said that his family members were told he had been killed in the confusion that followed the explosion that blew up in the front window of his store and killed his wife from her shoes.

Sharki said he worked with his wife Celine at his Market Street store in Co Tyrone on the day of the attack.

He said they had learned of a bomb signal in the city, but they continued to serve customers.

Among the people you saw this day were Geraldine Breslin, Anne McComb and Sean McGrath, who were killed by the blast.

Referring to G -n McGrath, he said, “He was a great man. Someone I would go to for advice. “

Shari added, “The next thing I knew the front window was just coming in around us.”

He said he was blown up from his feet by the explosion and his wife was blown up by her shoes.

He added: “A young boy was in the refrigerator of the drinks, a stone or a piece of shrapnel, and he was closely missing.

“He runs out of the store, so scared.

“The world was still in 30 or 40 seconds.

“Then all the noises filled my ears. Screams, alarms, ringing. “

Sharki said he went out and “ran into dizzy.”

He said that his biggest son was on the street and called him, but he did not hear.

He added: “I came back to the news and everything I saw on the street were bodies lying everywhere, many people scream, arriving.

“When I returned to the street, I met Kevin Skelton. He kept saying “Mena, did you see Mena? I will never forget the look of this person’s face, I will never forget it.

“His wife Philomena was found dead in the SD Kells store on the other side of my newspapers.”

Sharki was taken to a hospital, which he compared to the “area of ​​war” and discharged later on Saturday.

He said, “I was talking to Geradline and Ann outside my store. If they had stopped where they were out of my store, which was only in the bomb yards, maybe they were safe.

“Just after the bomb, my late sister, who was passing through the bridge, met someone who told her I had been killed.

“My children would have massively the next morning and were greeted by the late father (Kevin) Mulan. He told them he regretted hearing about their father. “

Sharki told the investigation that he was still suffering from nightmares and was diagnosed with tinnitus.

He said, “It was so warm that day that the back door opened in the store and it saved our lives.

“I think we would have been sucked on the street if the back door was not open.”

Sharki said he had returned to his store a few days later, but soon decided to give up the business, adding: “After the bomb I just couldn’t get up there.

“I’m not going downtown now late Saturday afternoon or early in the evening. I avoid him, he returns so many memories.

“Oma himself became so quiet. It wasn’t the same thing, it wasn’t in my eyes anyway. “

He concluded, “In this request, we need answers, but will we ever receive them?

“I don’t know, I hope.”