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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Sarah Slater

Heartbroken sister posted card to Donegal explosion victim just one hour before she died

A sister of a young fashion designer who lost her life in the Cresslough explosion two weeks ago has revealed she posted a card to her just an hour before she was killed.

Lisa Gallagher’s 24-year-old sister Jessica lost her life when an Applegreen service station and several apartments were decimated during an explosion in the Co Donegal village.

Ms Gallagher was in an apartment located to the back of the service station, which also had a post office and was the main shop serving the village.

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The fashion designer, who had been due to start a new job in Belfast last week was killed along with nine other people aged from 5 to 59 in the explosion while eight others were injured, one seriously.

On Twitter Ms Gallagher said that the card she posted to her much loved sister would never be opened by her.

“On Friday the 7th October at 2pm I put a card addressed to Jessica in the postbox in Roscam (Co Galway). Just over an hour later she was dead. The card arrived this morning (seven days later). The card she’ll never get to open.”

Jessica Gallagher, 24 years (gardai)

The late young woman’s sister who studied fashion design in Edinburgh and Paris also revealed that she is planning to rent a house close to her parents until Christmas.

Continuing on Twitter she said: “Looking for a house to rent in Cresslough, Dunfanaghy (and) Carrigart until Christmas so we can be close to my parents. Minimum two bed and wifi connection for work purposes. Direct Message if there’s anything going."

She also appealed to the media to give her and her family the privacy to grieve the loss of a much loved sister.

Ms Gallagher said: “My family are still being contacted by journalists about the death of Jessica and the nine other casualties. We don’t have a spokesperson, we have nothing more to say, please stop.”

Mourners at her sister’s Funeral Mass at St Michael’s Church in Cresslough last week were told that: “Jessica, through her life, left many ripples, many ripples of love, affection, kindness, warmth.”

The coffin of Jessica Gallagher, 24, is carried into St Michael's Church, Creeslough, for her funeral mass (PA Wire/PA Images)

Oil and gas explosion experts from a range of agencies have been brought in to help investigate the cause of the blast at the service station. Gardai have said the explosion appeared to have been an accident.

The scene has now been made safe, a garda spokesman said.

The garda spokesperson added: "The scene investigation is being coordinated by Garda National Technical Bureau (GNTB) crime scene managers who are highly experienced post-blast investigation experts.

"Experts from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and the Health and Safety Authority are also providing valuable assistance and expert guidance on site, while independent specialists in gas and oil installation failures/explosions have also been brought in to assist".

Last Sunday, in a post on social media, An Garda Síochána said officers would be conducting routine door-to-door inquiries in the village over the coming weeks.

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