Omagh victims formally identified

The bodies of those killed in last week's Omagh fire tragedy have now been formally identified, The Irish Times has learned.

The bodies of those killed in last week's Omagh fire tragedy have now been formally identified, The Irish Timeshas learned.

The results of the identification were made known late last night and follow the announcement at the weekend that all seven victims had died from smoke inhalation.

A specialist pathologist from England had flown to Northern Ireland to help with the work, especially in relation to the five child victims of the blaze.

Families of the seven - Arthur McElhill, Lorraine McGovern and their children Caroline, Seán, Bellina, Clodagh and James - can soon expect to receive the bodies for burial.

READ MORE

The decision to release is at the discretion of the coroner and will be dependent on funeral arrangements being finalised by the McGovern and McElhill families. If arrangements are put in place, the bodies could be returned to the bereaved before the end of the week.

All seven family members died when a blaze engulfed their house in the Co Tyrone town in the early hours of last Tuesday. Circumstances surrounding the fatal fire remain unclear and investigating police say they are still following a number of leads.

Speculation has continued about burial plans for the victims, but the PSNI has refused to comment further on the tragedy, claiming the investigation of up to seven murders it still a live one.

It was reported yesterday that the PSNI had removed a teenage girl from the house at Lammy Crescent in Omagh where she had been staying with the family in the weeks before the fire.

According to BBC Northern Ireland it is unclear as to whether or not the girl was a family friend or had been placed there by another agency.

The Western Health and Social Care Trust has said it has never placed a child with the family.

In light of Mr McElhill's record, police became concerned after learning that the teenager had been staying in the house.