Gardai believe a horrific explosion at a petrol station in Donegal yesterday was a “tragic accident”.
The death toll from the blast has risen to 10, with the search under rubble still going on.
A young girl is among those who were killed as gardai confirmed four men, three women, two teenagers (one girl and one boy) and another young girl of primary school age have died. All were from the local area.
Eight people were transferred to hospital on Friday. Seven are in a "stable" condition, while the eighth is in a "critical condition" and has been transferred to Dublin.
A search and recovery operation is continuing in the village of Creeslough, however gardai say they are not expecting any further casualties.
Friday afternoon's blast ripped through the Applegreen service station and convenience store and adjacent buildings.
Having announced three fatalities on Friday night, gardai confirmed a further four deaths on Saturday morning, another two just before midday and one more at a press conference this afternoon.
Gardai say it is the largest number of civilian casualties seen in decades in the region.
Speaking on Saturday afternoon about the potential cause of the explosion, Superintendent David Kelly of Milford Garda station said: “This is a tragedy for our community. There are families left devastated. I want to offer, on behalf of myself and my colleagues that attended the scene, our very sincere condolences.
“I would like to say as well, and forgive me if I get a bit emotional because you are dealing with the public, at this point in time, we have to keep an open mind in how we investigate this but our information at this point in time is pointing towards a tragic accident.
“That said, being a Garda, I have to take a holistic and overall viewpoint, but that’s where we are going at the moment. We are following certain investigative angles but for operational reasons, I am not going into that.”
Giving an update on the operation, Garda press spokesman Liam Geraghty said: "The emergency services continue a search and recovery operation at the site this afternoon but based on the information available to An Garda Siochana at this time it is not expected that there will be any further casualties located and there are no outstanding reports of unaccounted for persons.
"The 10 casualties are four men, three women, two teenagers - a boy and girl, and a younger girl.
"The thoughts of all the emergency service personnel who have attended the scene over the last 24 hours, the local community in Creeslough and the nation are today with the deceased and their families."
A moment of silence was held at the press conference at Milford Garda station for the 10 people who died in the explosion.
READ NEXT:
- Ireland cold weather forecast as Met Eireann warn big change on the way as winter starts to bite
- Chicken, beer and yoghurt in full list of food recalled by Tesco, Dunnes, Lidl and more Irish shops
- RTE Late Late Show viewers divided over ‘embarrassing’ cost of living tips to save money
- Cost of living expert shares ‘wine trick’ to save money leaving RTE Late Late Show viewers stunned
- Heartbroken mam of innocent man ploughed down by car says she won't give up fight for justice
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
