On a bitterly cold, damp night in Omagh last night the remains of the seven members of the McElhill family were finally recovered from the charred wreckage of their home in Lammy Crescent.
Much of the detail of how and why Arthur McElhill and his partner Lorraine McGovern, and their five young children died so tragically in that devastating house fire 60 hours earlier has yet to emerge.
That terrible story will unfold piece by piece in the time ahead but last night the only matter that the extended McElhill and McGovern families, and the people of Lammy and of Omagh, and the fire and police officers, were interested in was ensuring a dignified service for the family.
And this they achieved. About 500 people gathered outside the McElhill home at about 5pm last night as the bodies of the parents and children, Caroline, Seán, Bellina, Clodagh and James, were placed in two specially customised white mortuary vans.
The firefighters, police officers, forensic officers and Red Cross personnel who had worked so carefully and diligently through Tuesday, Wednesday and yesterday to locate and retrieve the bodies formed a guard of honour for the cortege.
Teachers of the children lined up, too, to pay their respects.
There were many schoolmates of Caroline and Seán and Bellina there as well. Caroline, aged 13, was a pupil in the Sacred Heart Secondary School.
Many of her friends from the school in their blue uniforms broke down in tears, clinging to each other for comfort, as the white vans passed by. Many other mourners shed tears.
Local parish priest Msgr Joseph Donnelly conducted the short but solemn and moving ceremony at Lammy to see the cortege and the remains of the McElhills on their way.
You could sense the quiet but deep emotion as the prayers and scriptural passages were read, as a hymn was sung, as the crowd gave the response to the psalm, The Lord is My Shepherd.
The readings were given by Caitríona McGettigan, principal of St Conor's Primary School, located just yards from the McElhill home, where seven-year-old Seán and four-year-old Bellina went to school and by Donal McDermott, principal of Caroline's school.
The deaths have left a deep impression on many people, not least the children of Omagh. By yesterday evening a colourful mound of flowers and teddy bears had formed close to the McElhill home.
With childish writing and drawings the children offered their feelings and thoughts. "Sean, I hope you are playing football with the angels in heaven," wrote Ryan. "I will miss playing with you," said Oran.
Caroline had also been a pupil of St Conor's and school principal Ms McGettigan said all the children were a "joy to teach - all beautiful children who will be sadly missed by their peers and by the entire staff of the school".
But the sympathy was for the entire family, for the parents and the toddlers, Clodagh and James, and went beyond Omagh. One bouquet simply read, "With sympathy from Slovakia".
Today, it is planned that St Conor's Primary School will reopen despite the fact that the charred remains of the McElhill home close by will serve as "a constant visual reminder" of the tragedy for the children, as Ms McGettigan observed.
