Man arrested in connection with Creeslough explosion that killed 10 people

GARDAÍ HAVE ARRESTED a man in his 40s in the course of their investigation into the explosion that killed 10 people at a filling station in Creeslough, Co Donegal in October 2022. 

Those killed in the blast included four men, three women, a teenage boy and a girl, and one five-year-old girl.

He has been arrested for alleged offences contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. 

The man is currently being detained at a garda station in Dublin. 

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This is the sixth arrest to have taken place related to the investigation. Everyone who has been arrested to date has been released without charge.

Sources have previously told The Journal it’s believed that a gas leak inside the building complex, which was comprised of a number of connected apartments and a Applegreen petrol station, caused the explosion.

The investigation into the fatal explosion at the building complex is ongoing, and an incident room is established in Milford Garda Station. 

“The investigation continues to be led by local Gardaí in the Donegal Division, supported by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and other agencies including the Health & Safety Authority and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities,” a garda spokesperson said. 

Those who died in the explosion were: 

Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan; Sydney native James O’Flaherty, student Jessica Gallagher, Celtic fan Martin McGill, carpenter Hugh Kelly, shop worker Martina Martin, and 14-year-old Leona Harper.

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