Northern Ireland

Video: Omagh remembers its dead

 People gathering on Market Street, Omagh, ahead of the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the bombing on August 15 1998. Picture by Niall Carson, PA Wire
 People gathering on Market Street, Omagh, ahead of the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the bombing on August 15 1998. Picture by Niall Carson, PA Wire  People gathering on Market Street, Omagh, ahead of the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the bombing on August 15 1998. Picture by Niall Carson, PA Wire

A BELL has tolled 32 times in Omagh at ceremony to remember those who lost their lives in the bombing 20 years ago today.

Relatives of those killed were joined by hundreds of others on Market Street where the Real IRA bomb detonated on a Saturday afternoon, killing 29 people including a woman who was pregnant with twins.

The bell rang 32 times to reflect the 31 lives lost and an additional peal to remember all who died through similar atrocities.

The commemoration began at 2.55pm at the site of the bombing and the bell stopped tolling at 3.10pm, the time the bomb exploded. This was followed by a two-minute silence.

Richard Scott, a retired police officer who attended the scene in the Co Tyrone town on August 15 1998, read the poem Reality, which was written by Tracey and Paula Skelton, who lost their mother Mena in the bomb.

People were offered a flower petal to scatter into a river or a pond at a nearby memorial garden to remember those who were killed.