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Man arrested in connection with Creeslough explosion released without charge

Man arrested in connection with Creeslough explosion released without charge

Irish Examiner24-05-2025

A man in his 60s who was arrested on Thursday as part of the investigation into the fatal explosion in Creeslough, Co Donegal, has been released without charge.
Gardaí confirmed on Friday that a file will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The man had been detained, under the provisions of section 4 Criminal Justice Act 1984, as part of the ongoing investigation into the explosion at a building complex in Creeslough in October 2022, which claimed the lives of 10 people
He was the fifth person to be arrested in connection with the explosion at the Applegreen/Nearby service station and store in the Co Donegal town.
In May last year, gardaí arrested a man and a woman, both aged in their 40s, for alleged offences contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.
Earlier in the year, two men in their 50s were arrested in connection with the explosion. Like the man and the woman arrested in May, they were later released without charge.
The investigation continues to be led by local gardaí in the Donegal Division, supported by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) and other agencies including the Health & Safety Authority (HSA) and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU).
Those who died on October 7, 2022, in the explosion, were James O Flaherty, 48, Jessica Gallagher, 24, Martin McGill, 49, Catherine O Donnell, 39, and her son James Monaghan, 13, Hugh Kelly, 59, Martina Martin, 49, Robert Garwe, 50, and his daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, 5, and Leona Harper, 14.

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