With Each Statistic, A Tragic Story

BEHIND EACH of the names on the list of the Omagh bomb victims lay the extremities of suffering. Each story becomes a snapshot of ordinary human life that was snuffed out in an instant.

From an 18-month-old baby to a 65-year-old grandmother, the losses spanned the generations and the social divides of Northern Ireland.

There were three generations of one extended family, the teenage schoolfriends who gave up their weekends to work in a charity shop and the Sunday school teacher due to get married next year.

Three young boys from just across the border in Buncrana died alongside the Spanish teacher and pupil who had come on an exchange. They were in Omagh for the carnival, to get a glimpse of life inNorthern Ireland.

In every name on the seemingly endless official list yesterday lay the shattered hopes and dreams of a community - and, it was feared, of a nation.

The victims, page 3