Search of Omagh fire house resumes

Police and firefighters in the North are resuming the search for two bodies at the scene of the house where a family of seven are believed to have perished.

Last night they confirmed five bodies had been located in the charred remains of the terrace house where a couple lived with their five children.

The bodies were left in the wrecked house under guard overnight and are expected to be removed for post-mortems later in the day.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Louis Jones said the dangerous state of the building made a continued search operation unsafe until full daylight returned.

Forensic experts will continue to comb through the debris to establish the cause of the blaze which may have been started deliberately.

Police probing the cause have not ruled out a crime – one neighbour said: “It went up like a bonfire.”

The house where Arthur McElhill, a farm manager, his partner Lorraine and their five children lived – the oldest a girl of 13, the youngest a baby boy just 10-months-old – was engulfed in flames within minutes.

Neighbours heard screams coming from upstairs rooms and at one stage a ladder was pushed against the front of the house in a desperate attempt to get them out. But the intensity of the heat and speed of the blaze defeated rescue attempts.

The burning roof of the end of terrace house at Lammy Crescent collapsed as fierce flames, sparks and heavy smoke billowed out from the front and back.

It was the ferocity of the blaze which shocked firefighters who had virtually no chance of rescuing anybody and left forensic experts checking the debris for clues as to the cause.

Mr Jones said: “In my 30 years service this is certainly the largest loss of life in any house fire and one of the most tragic incidents I have attended.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter, who heads the PSNI’s serious crime squad, set up a special investigation team under a detective superintendent to establish “if there were any untoward circumstances”.

He refused to comment on rumours there had been a commotion involving Mr McElhill and his partner before the fire started early yesterday morning, or that police had been called to the house previously.

He said: “There is nothing at this stage to indicate there was a definite crime. We’re having a thorough investigation to ensure everything is explained about the origins of the fire, how it started and how this family died in the fire.”

The eldest of their five children, Caroline, 13, attended the nearby Sacred Heart College. The other four were Sean, Clodagh, Bellina and baby James.

Two were pupils at St Conor’s Primary School, just yards from the house, remained closed for a second day running today.

Stunned parents and friends of family who gathered at the school gates wept in disbelief and children left flowers with messages to their lost classmates.