David McSwiggan testified at the Omagh Bombing Inquiry regarding his experience during the Real IRA bombing that occurred on August 15, 1998, which claimed 29 lives. McSwiggan recounted how, just after his 20th birthday, he and friends were in town for a break-dancing show when the bomb went off. He expressed disbelief that their small town could be targeted, especially as the Troubles seemed to be ending. His harrowing account described the chaotic scene: buildings collapsed, fires blazed, and wounded people lay in a crater left by the explosion, illustrating the magnitude of the tragedy.
Our wee town, the backwater that it was, did not merit to be a target, especially as the Troubles were supposed to be over.
Suddenly, an immense force seemed to bring the bricks of the buildings tumbling, disintegrating around us... Then heat and fire.
There were lifeless, injured and trapped people everywhere. Buildings collapsing onto the street.
There was a crater, a large hole in the road... one person with severe injuries who had been left naked by the force of the explosion.
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