THE CEO OF Depaul has said that over 73 residents who were living in a homeless hostel on Little Britain Street when an explosion occurred which killed one man have all been provided with temporary beds elsewhere, but they are “dispersed” throughout the city.
David Carroll said that after 3.30pm yesterday staff experienced an explosion in the building, and “immediately emergency protocols kicked in”.
He said that everyone was evacuated from the building within three minutes, and brought to a pre-organised emergency meeting point.
Carroll said that some residents on “walking frames” who are extremely vulnerable with “complex needs” were amongst those who were evacuated from the building.
He said that he has a “great degree of pride” in how the situation was handled, both by staff and residents, who left “their personal possessions, phones, money and clothes” behind.
Carroll said that the charity “remarkably” managed to find accommodation for all 73 residents last night, working with the Dublin Region Homeless Executive and NGO partner organisations.
He said that he could not provide any further details on how the improvised explosive device which exploded in one room of the building, costing a man his life, entered the building.
Carroll said that the damage to the building was not that extensive, and that hopefully residents would be able to get back in soon.
The CEO added that the Little Britain street team are now supporting those individuals who are spread out over different locations to make sure they have things like medications, and access to social welfare payments.
Speaking about the Eastern European man in his 30s who died in the explosion, Carroll said he could add nothing further about the individual at present.
A spokesperson for the service said Depaul is “shocked and saddened” by the incident yesterday.
“To assist with ongoing efforts to support our service users, our staff, and our volunteers, Depaul has established an incident management centre to help coordinate dedicated efforts. Depaul is extremely grateful for the continued support among the public and from first responders.
“Little Britain Street is a critical service for some of the most vulnerable people in our society and our main objective is to reopen as soon as we can,” they added.
Gardaí are continuing to investigate how the explosive device got into the hostel room, and if anyone else was involved in the incident, it is understood.
A garda spokesperson said that the man who sustained fatal injuries in the explosion was reported dead at the scene.
“The explosion was confined to one room within the property, and no one else was injured,” they said in a statement issued last night.
Gardaí have commenced a forensic and technical examination with assistance from Army EOD services.
The coroner has been notified, and a post-mortem is due to be carried out in Dublin City Morgue.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say