Girl caught in St Patrick’s Day crush says people were laughing as they pushed crowds

A partygoer caught up in a human crush on St Patrick’s Day has revealed her own harrowing account of what happened after three teenagers were killed.

Two boys, aged 16 and 17, and a girl, 17, died after a large crowd of people pushed their way through the front door of the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstow, Northern Ireland, where a St Patrick’s Day disco for young people was being held.

Eimar Tallon, who was there on the evening, said some people were so determined to get in to the party that they started pushing other attendees ‘with all their strength’.

‘No matter how much we screamed and pushed back there was no movement,’ she said.

Eimar wrote in a Facebook post she had ‘screamed at the top of her lungs’ after two of her friends fell to the ground with no space for them to come back up.

‘I could still see people laughing with no idea what was going on. At this point I thought my friends were going to die, I was standing up and I couldn’t breath so I couldn’t imagine how they felt.

‘I was hysterically screaming for people to move but it was only the people around me who knew the seriousness,’ she added.

She described falling into a pile of bodies as ‘the most traumatic, frightening and stressful moment’ of her life and says people were ‘scratching, biting and grabbing anything they could’ to get some space to breathe.

Eimar added: ‘I think that’s what really shows the seriousness of it all, people were literally fighting for their lives.’

Eimar says she was shocked and relieved to find two of her friends were safe but said she had been chatting to one of the boys understood to have been killed in the crush just ‘minutes earlier’.

She added: ‘As it got serious, we banged the windows of the hotel and tried to get help. The people inside simply looked away. While this was happening the gates were still locked and the bouncers were no help.

‘If it wasn’t for the young people doing the right thing and ringing the police, the situation could’ve been so much worse. The truth is, this could’ve been prevented.’

Cheerleader Lauren Bullock, 17 was named today as one of the three people who were killed in the crush.

Dr Nigel Ruddell, medical director of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, called the event, a ‘tragic accident’ and said there were no injuries to suggest violent altercations.

He added: It was clearly a very distressing scene for all of those who were caught up in the midst of it,’ he added. ‘I would have to say a great thank you to our crews who managed this in a very professional capacity.’

Police Service of Northern Ireland says it has had reports of some fighting after the incident started and that at least one person has reported being assaulted.

The force added in a statement: ‘It is heart-breaking that an event which should have been fun for these youngsters on St Patrick’s night should end in such a terrible tragedy.

‘We are continuing to interview people are continuing to interview people who were there to establish the full facts and would appeal to anyone who witnessed what happened to contact police on 101 ext 52014.

‘We need parents to talk to their children this morning and encourage them to come and tell us what happened. Please do not post photographs or videos online. Please share them with the PSNI.’