Police have identified 400 young people who were in the queue or car park at the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown on Sunday evening.
A total of 82 of those young people have now been interviewed and arrangements have been made to interview 106 others over the next few days. Police say that 72 people have availed of the facility at the Burnavon to speak with detectives.
The update comes as the families of the three teenagers who lost their lives – Morgan Barnard, Connor Currie and Lauren Bullock – have paid tribute to them.
In a statement, the families have extended their ‘heartfelt thanks to the local community for their support since the tragic events of Sunday night.’
They are grateful to all of those who have come forward to speak to PSNI so far and would appeal to anyone else who witnessed the terrible event to come forward and give their account to police. The families want to find out exactly what happened to their children and have asked people to cooperate fully with the police investigation.
The families would also like to thank the emergency services who responded at the scene and the staff at Antrim Area Hospital.
Morgan’s family will remember him as loving the simple things in life. He volunteered for a number of things including working at the local Cancer Research Shop. He always had a smile for everyone and brightened up the classroom with his humour.
Connor’s family meanwhile, want to thank Antrim Area Hospital staff, paramedics, ambulance staff, PSNI and members of public who came to his assistance in any way.
And Lauren’s family say they will remember her as very a thoughtful and caring young girl who was outgoing and fun loving.
Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray, Head of Serious Crime Branch, said with the funerals happening tomorrow (Friday), their job is to get them answers as to why they have lost their children.
“As part of our investigation we have utilised the Major Incident Public Portal to allow people to upload mobile phone footage and images of the evening. We have also deployed one of our Cyber Support Vehicles to Cookstown to enable us to download mobile phone footage from people at the scene,” he said.
Detectives are also appealing to anyone who has not yet contacted them to please come forward which is the wish of the families.
“Detectives would again reassure anyone with concerns, the focus of our investigation is not the age of people who were at the event – it is about trying to find answers for the families of the three teenagers who tragically died,” added the Detective Chief Superintendent.
He has also urged parents to talk with their children, support them and encourage them to come forward and tell their story to police.
Detectives can be contacted at the dedicated incident room at Dungannon police station by calling 101, extension 53055.
You can visit the dedicated room at the Burnavon Arts Centre in Cookstown. Anyone with any information, images or footage can also pass it to police via the following link: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/PSNI19O08-PO1.
The funerals will take place tomorrow.