Donegal explosion: Father pays tribute to ‘little gem’ daughter, 14, killed in blast

Leona Harper was found 24 hours after the explosion

Hugh Harper said his 14-year-old daughter Leona would be ‘very sorely missed’ (Letterkenny Rugby Club)

The father of the last victim to be recovered from the rubble of the Creeslough explosion described her as a “little gem” who will be “very sorely missed”.

Hugh Harper said his 14-year-old daughter Leona was a “very friendly, lovely person” as it emerged the keen sports enthusiast was the last of the 10 people killed to be found amid the ruins of the blast site at a convenience store in the County Donegal village.

“Leona was a little gem, very outgoing, very friendly, a lovely person, very quiet, laid-back, loved life, loved the outdoors, walking through fields, going fishing, spending time with friends, going to car shows,” Mr Harper told Highland Radio.

He added: “She was very special, very, very special. She’s going to be very sorely missed.”

Leona’s mother Donna thanked the digger driver who found her body after a 24-hour search.

“I didn’t personally know the digger driver – a massive thank you to him because he just didn’t stop until he got her,” she said.

“Twenty-four hours before we got her and she was the last taken out. The doctors and everything, everybody was amazing the way they treated the whole scene from start to finish with nothing more than respect.”

Ireland’s police force, An Garda Siochana, continues to investigate the cause of the blast in a building complex that included a service station, convenience store and apartments.

It is being treated as a “tragic accident” while a gas leak is one theory, it is believed.

The aunt of another of the 10 victims, 24-year-old Jessica Gallagher, has spoken of the young fashion designer’s pride and love for Creeslough.

Leona Harper was a Liverpool FC supporter (An Garda Siochana/PA)

Ms Gallagher’s funeral mass will take place at St Michael’s Church in Creeslough on Tuesday morning.

Dolores Gallagher said her niece was due to start a new job in Belfast on Monday. She said Jessica Gallagher, 24, was “the most beautiful young woman” and loved living in Creeslough.

The other eight victims were 50-year-old Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, who were in the shop to buy a birthday cake; 48-year-old James O’Flaherty; 49-year-old Martin McGill; 39-year-old Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan; 59-year-old Hugh Kelly; and 49-year-old Martina Martin.

On Monday, King Charles extended his condolences to the people of Ireland following the “appallingly tragic” explosion.

Emergency services continue their work at the scene of the explosion at Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal (PA Wire)

In a message to the president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, the King said his and the Queen Consort’s sympathies were with those who have lost loved ones.

“My wife and I were filled with immense sadness when we heard of that appallingly tragic explosion at Creeslough, County Donegal,” he said.

“We remember with the greatest fondness meeting people from across Donegal when we visited in 2016 and the strong sense of community that exists there.

“However, inadequate this may be under such shattering circumstances, we wanted you to know that our most heartfelt sympathy and deepest condolences are with those families and friends who have lost their loved ones in this devastating tragedy, together with yourself and the people of Ireland.”

In a statement, Pope Francis said he was “saddened” by the blast and expressed “spiritual closeness to all those suffering”.

Earlier on Monday, a doctor said the death toll from the explosion could have been twice as high if the blast had happened five minutes earlier.

Village GP, Dr Paul Stewart, said a group of school children had been sitting on a wall of the service station and convenience store just before it was buried by falling rubble.

Louise Devine with her daughter Lilly Hegarty, eight, at a vigil in Milford, Co Donegal, for the victims of the Creeslough explosion (PA Wire)

“Apparently, five minutes before the explosion there were a group of school kids sitting on the wall outside,” Dr Stewart told BBC Radio Ulster.

“They had been on a day trip. Five minutes earlier and we could have been twice the death toll.”