Family’s holiday isle bomb terror

Couple yards from car blast

A SHOCKED Oldham couple were only yards away from the car bomb which exploded in a Majorcan holiday resort, killing two police officers.

David and Carol Clough, of Ceylon Street, Salem, were on holiday with their teenage son, Alex, when the device was detonated across from their hotel in Palma Nova on Thursday, last week.

Now safely back home, Mr Clough (48) said: “My wife and I were sitting round the pool when we heard a huge explosion.We saw a car windscreen go up in the air and a flash. Everyone stood up and went to see what had happened. Everyone was calm, and I told Carol to hang back for a while, in case there was another bomb.”

Alex (14) was safely inside the hotel, the Sol Tordos, playing computer games when the bomb exploded.

“We saw no trouble before or after, and everyone just went back to their sunbeds,” added David.

“It didn’t spoil the holiday, but it did make us aware of the problems still going on there. In fact, we were concerned at the airport coming home because people were saying there could be a bomb on the plane.”

Two police officers were killed instantly when the bomb exploded underneath their patrol car.

The family observed a minute’s silence outside their hotel the following day and were kept away from reporters by a police officer who was stationed on the hotel gates.