Social Democratic and Labour Party councillor Thomas O’Hanlon said the grief in the area was “just unimaginable and people are really, really stunned”.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme, O’Hanlon said three families and three communities had been “torn apart in the blink of an eye”.
“There’s a silence over the community,” he said.
O’Hanlon spoke about the long-term effect on the families.
“Your heart just goes out to families where mummies and daddies aren’t there for big occasions, for the little things that you want to run and tell them happened on this day at school or that day at work,” he said.
“That’s where it will really hit home.”
According to online death notices, 11 children lost a parent in the crash.
O’Hanlon said the Armagh Road was “extremely busy, both day and night”.
“People are always concerned about road safety on that stretch of road,” he added.
Diana Armstrong, Ulster Unionist Party assembly member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, said the Armagh Road was a “long, straight, fast road”.
“People say to even get on to the road from a side road it can take up to 25 cars before you can get on to the road so that just gives you an idea of how busy that road is,” she said.