Bodies removed from scene of Omagh fire

Firemen form a guard of honour as the seven bodies of the family who died in a house fire in Omagh are removed from the building…

Firemen form a guard of honour as the seven bodies of the family who died in a house fire in Omagh are removed from the building in two white vans.

The bodies of  the two adults and fire children who died in the Omagh fire were removed from the house tonight.

Hundreds of people, including scores of firefighters, held a vigil as the bodies  of Arthur McElhill (39), partner Lorraine McGovern (30), and their five children - Caroline (13), Seán (7), Bellina (4), Clodagh (18 months) and James (nine months) - were taken away in two white vans.

All seven bodies were found inside the house at Lammy Crescent in Omagh.

Postmortems will be carried out over the coming days, a PSNI spokesman said.

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The PSNI  insisted earlier  today that the deaths of all seven victims are being treated as murder.

A PSNI spokesman said that no one has been declared as a suspect at this stage and warned media outlets to be "extremely careful" in reporting the case.

The house, as a crime scene, will continue to be examined by police and forensic experts, the spokesman added.

Police believe that the McElhill family home burst into flames early on Tuesday morning following an arson attack. They confirmed yesterday that a "significant quantity" of petrol was found inside the house.

They are trying to establish  if the petrol was lit from inside the building.

Witnesses said Mr McElhill and his partner were appealing for help from the windows of the upstairs rooms while screaming could be heard. The fire was too severe for anyone to reach them.