Patients discharged as Letterkenny hospital dealt with Creeslough explosion casualties

Letterkenny University Hospital discharged patients on Friday afternoon as staff prepared to deal with an influx casualties from an explosion in Creeslough.

A major emergency standby plan was put in place following the blast, which has now claimed nine lives. A search and recovery operation is ongoing into Saturday afternoon.

"As with all these emergency situations we see the best in our health service,” Sean Murphy, the manager at LUH, said.

"We did have to discharge patients as were were not sure how many casualties we were going to receive but additional GPS were put in place and they remain in place today.

Creeslough: A stunned community rallies in its silence

Nine people have been confirmed dead following a horrific explosion at the Applegreen se

"We opened up a community assessment hub and additional nurses were also mobilised."

Eight people were admitted to the hospital, some of whom were children.

Private ambulances and the Coast Guard’s 118 rescue helicopter assisted in the operation.

Mr Murphy said: “There were children admitted and families waited in the hospital to hear news and to find out if their loved ones had been brought to the hospital.

“We are thinking of all the families so tragically affected and I want to pay tribute to all those who help in any way and that includes the members of the public who were so understand and also the staff at the hospital.

"All we can do is to offer our condolences.”