Man arrested in Creeslough explosion investigation released without charge

A man arrested by gardai investigating an explosion at a service station in Co Donegal in which 10 people died has been released without charge.

Four men, three women and three young people, their ages ranging from five to 59, died in the blast on the afternoon of Friday October 7 2022 in the village of Creeslough.

The man aged in his 60s was arrested on Friday for alleged offences contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.

He had been held at a Garda station in the north-western region.

The Garda said he has been released without charge and a file would now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The investigation into the explosion, which ripped through the service station and an adjacent apartment block, is being co-ordinated from Milford Garda station, where an incident room is in operation.

The inquiry is being led by local gardai, supported by a number of different agencies, including Ireland’s Health and Safety Authority.

The 10 victims were Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe, Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan, fashion student Jessica Gallagher, Celtic fan Martin McGill, James O’Flaherty from Sydney, Australia, shop worker Martina Martin, carpenter Hugh “Hughie” Kelly and 14-year-old Leona Harper.