Omagh bomb surgeon: "It was like a major war disaster"
Mr Dominic Pinto operated for three days after the Omagh bomb
The surgeon who co-ordinated the crisis response in Tyrone County Hospital after the Omagh bomb, has told Downtown Cool FM the scenes in A & E were like a warzone.
29 people, including nine children and two unborn babies, were killed when a Real IRA car bomb exploded on the main street in the town on August 15 1998.
220 more victims suffered horrific injuries, including severe burns in the single biggest atrocity of the Troubles, just five months after the Good Friday Agreement was signed.
Mr Dominic Pinto organised the hospital’s contingency plan on the day and said the scenes that met him were like something from a battlefield:
“I saw this mass of people, there were people on the floor and it was like a major war disaster.
“There were loads of people coming in so I had to stop them and told them all: ‘Just listen, all of the walking wounded and everybody else will go to the outpatients, and you’ll be looked after there, only the serious ones will be here.’
“As I was walking down the corridor of course, this being a local disaster and people knowing me, you could see the terrible injuries, they were calling my name and saying ‘Mr Pinto please can you do something for me?’
“You couldn’t get involved, once you got involved, you were taken away from the situation.”
Mr Pinto shared his memories of the day when the single biggest atrocity of the Troubles shook the sleepy, County Tyrone town.
The consultant surgeon struggled with staffing shortages due to the time of year and said he worked tirelessly for three days operating on the victims, while a constant stream of casualties continued to pour into the hospital:
“I was faced with a situation where at least four patients needed urgent operations, I was the only surgeon on duty and remember it was August, it was holiday time.
“I was standing there saying to myself ‘hmm two theatres, once I’m committed to one I’m lost for an hour and a half or two hours.’
“I had a significant number of burns and I estimated the percentage of burns…and I realised there was at least six there were at least six with over 60% burns so I continued to operate for at least three days or something.”
Dr Pinto, who is originally from Goa but has done pioneering work in Northern Ireland for most of his career and lives in Omagh, told Downtown Cool FM he knew many of the casualties.
He said many of the injured were locals and he found it very challenging not to get emotionally involved and continue with his vital work:
“So the first thing I had was a young child was just being resuscitated in the Accident and Emergency theatre and I looked at him and I said I’m sorry this child is dead there’s nothing you can do about it.
“Then there was another woman that I had to see, that person was dead.
“At the time I didn’t realise she was the daughter of my friend, I didn’t recognise her because of her injuries.”
Mr Pinto was later awarded an OBE and received letters of solidarity from all over the world after news of the terror attack attracted international media attention:
“They said you know how inhuman it is that a human being can… be so nasty to other human beings but they recognise the situation but they’re sorry that that happened.
“In a way saying they were grateful that you were there to do something."