Creeslough tragedy:  NI ambulance and fire chiefs praise staff for response to Donegal explosion

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) Chief Executive, Michael Bloomfield, said they received an early call for assistance from the National Ambulance Service in Donegal following the explosion on Friday.

"We immediately dispatched a number of resources including Rapid Response Paramedics, an Emergency Crew, Hazardous Area Response Teams, a non-Emergency Crew and the Charity Air Ambulance, with HEMS crew on board, to assist with the operation to save and protect lives,” he said."Working alongside colleagues from all emergency services, North and South, our staff brought their vast experience to a situation requiring the highest levels of clinical skills and decision making in the most difficult pre-hospital environment that one could imagine."The tragedy is something they would never want to witness, but it is something emergency services train for, he said, noting how "colleagues from different services all came together to work as one".All emergency and rescue personnel involved will have returned home with "heavy hearts, broken for those whose lives they could not save," he added.

He added that he would like to “extend my sincere condolences to the families of those whose lives were lost in this horrific incident”.

Paul Harper, Deputy Chief Fire & Rescue Officer with the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS), said their thoughts also remain with those who have been injured and the community as it recovers and grieves."We are also thinking of our colleagues in Donegal Fire Service who led this response and the other emergency responders who assisted at the scene," he added.He said that on Friday at 5:09pm the NIFRS tasked its Specialist Rescue Team from Belfast along with a Command Support Unit from Strabane to the incident, supporting their colleagues in Donegal Fire Service."Using specialist search and rescue equipment, Firefighters worked with other emergency services into the early hours of the morning in the hope of rescuing survivors trapped in the rubble,” he added.