The families of those killed in the Omagh bombing have expressed anger at the detail being revealed at the inquest about the injuries suffered by their loved ones and have asked the media to be sensitive in its reporting.
Speaking after the inquest rose for the weekend, Mr Stanley McCombe, the widower of Mrs Ann McCombe, said he was "angry and upset" at the details being disclosed. "`Died from multiple injuries', that's all I need to know," he said. He said the approach taken in the court seemed to be to treat the dead "like an item, not a person". Mr McCombe said he had been "too angry" to get up in court and object and said most of the families agreed with his position. "These people are modest people who don't want to get up and say it," he said.
Mr McCombe was also critical of how, during their testimony, police witnesses were asked if they knew the dead and injured as they had dealt with them.
"The police did their job to the best of their ability," he said, and were "distressed as much as we are", but were still being subjected to unfair questions.
Mr McCombe said he was sure the coroner and his staff had seen photos of the dead which, he said were so "blackened and mutilated" as to be unrecognisable, but were still asking the police these distressing questions, which they could not be expected to answer.
Mrs Marion Radford, whose teenage son, Alan, died in the bombing, said she did not want the extent of his injuries made public. She said she had been helped in some ways by the inquest as she now knew he had died rapidly.
However, other evidence relating to where he had died, and his position on the "body map" used by the inquest had been conflicting and she said she was "confused, it's upset me". Mr Michael Gallagher, whose son, Adrian, was mentioned by name in yesterday's evidence, said the families had had a meeting before yesterday's hearing to "let it be known they weren't happy" about the way the inquest was being conducted in relation to detailing injuries.