Ten people have died as a result of an explosion in County Donegal, gardaí (Irish police) have said.
It happened at an Applegreen petrol station in the village of Creeslough on Friday afternoon.
A number of people are being treated for injuries. Earlier Sinn Féin TD for Donegal, Pearse Doherty, said that there were still people trapped.
Gardaí said it was an ongoing operation and they were not able to provide more information on casualties at this time.
In a statement, Letterkenny University Hospital said it was dealing with “a serious incident involving multiple injured people requiring immediate attention”.
It said it had moved to “major emergency standby” as it dealt with the incident.
“We are appealing to the public not to come to the Emergency Department unless it is an emergency. Please contact your GP or NOW doc service in the first instance,” the statement added.
“NowDoc has increased staffing this evening to help deal with any additional demands.”
Emergency services from Northern Ireland have been assisting in rescue efforts.
Creeslough is a small village in the Republic of Ireland and is about 15 miles from Letterkenny and 30 miles from the border with Northern Ireland.
In a statement on Twitter the Applegreen company said the news was “devastating”.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the deceased, those who have been injured, and the wider Creeslough community,” they tweeted.
We are deeply saddened & shocked to learn the devasting news that lives have been lost in today’s tragic incident at Creeslough in Co Donegal. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families & friends of the deceased, those who have been injured, and the wider Creeslough community
— Applegreen (@goapplegreen) October 7, 2022
Mazzaltov World News is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter
The company said that that the supermarket and Applegreen outlet had been operated by local partners at “the heart of the community”.
“Like the rest of Ireland, tonight we stand in solidarity with that community.”
The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin expressed his sympathies to the family and friends of those who had died and to the entire community of Creeslough, on this “darkest of days for Donegal and the entire country.”
“People across this island will be numbed by the same sense of shock and utter devastation as the people of Creeslough at this tragic loss of life,” he added.
He thanked members of the emergency services, from across the north-west and Northern Ireland.
He said they were “working throughout the night in extremely traumatic circumstances.”
Adrian MacAuley from Londonderry owns an apartment behind the petrol station.
“The place seems to be devastated,” he said.
“Our thoughts are with anybody that was injured in it because Creeslough is a fantastic community,” he added.