Giving evidence to the Omagh Bombing Inquiry, Jim Sharkey said members of his family were told that he had been killed in the confusion which followed the explosion that blew in the front window of his shop and knocked his wife out of her shoes.
Mr Sharkey said he returned to his shop a few days later but soon decided to give up the business, adding: “Following the bomb I just couldn’t face going back there any longer.
Mr Sharkey said he had been working with his wife Celine in his shop in Market Street in the Co Tyrone town on the day of the bombing.
He said: “It was so warm that day we had the back door open of the shop and that saved our lives.
Mr Sharkey said he went outside and was “running about in a daze”.
