Priest describes plane crash scene

The priest who gave the last rites to the six victims who died in the air crash described the scene as being like a war zone.

Fr Michael Murphy was alerted to the unfolding disaster by a friend who had telephoned him.

When he contacted the emergency services, they asked him to attend immediately and he cycled the 20 minutes from his parochial house in Ballyphehane.

Fr Murphy said when he arrived at the airport there were ambulances racing past him and he instantly thanked God that people were still alive.

"It was just a completely devastating scene, shocking, unbelievable," he said.

But his abiding memory was the pained work of the emergency services. "They were all just shattered," he said. "My memory of them was like guys from the army, all covered in oil from the wreckage."

The parish priest was taken to a makeshift field hospital under a tent beside the upturned plane wreck where the bodies of all six dead were laid out next to each other. Inside, gardai were working on identifying the victims.

"I just prayed for them and gave them the last rites," said Fr Murphy. "I tried not to look around because it's hard enough to cope with this type of thing. I didn't take any notice of the crash site, my only intention was doing the job that I was there to do."

Fr Murphy said he has been trying to keep himself busy to put the events out of his mind. "Recalling it is absolutely awful," he said. "There's nothing you can say that can bring consolation to the bereaved."