Christine McKane, Dane McKane and Julia McSorley
The first funeral of three members of the same family who died in a minibus crash in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, will be held on Sunday.
Hundreds gathered for a vigil on Friday for Dan McKane, his sister Christine McKane and their aunt Julia McSorley.
They were killed when their minibus was in collision with a lorry on the A5 Tullyvar Road on Thursday morning.
The family had been returning to Strabane, County Tyrone, from a family funeral in England when it happened.
Requiem Mass for Ms McSorley will be celebrated at St Eugene’s Church, Glenock, at 11:30 BST on Sunday with interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.
A joint funeral service for Christine and Dan McKane will take place on Monday.
Requiem Mass will be celebrated at 12:00 BST in The Church of The Immaculate Conception, with interment afterwards in Strabane Cemetery.
Prayers were said and candles lit at the vigil in Strabane on Friday evening
Father Declan Boland, a priest in Strabane, said the family and the community were in total disbelief at the tragedy.
“The community are struggling to comprehend what is happening,” he told the BBC’s The North West Today programme.
“We have to face into the horror of the bodies coming home and then the funerals.”
Fr Boland visited the home of Ms McKane on Thursday where people had come together to pay tribute.
“People were just gathering in groups, not saying an awful lot but just being there in silent solidarity, embracing one another,” he said.
“It really is a silent witness where words are really inadequate.”
Fr Declan Boland said people in Strabane were shocked and saddened
Fr Boland visited the home of Ms McKane on Thursday where people had come together to pay tribute.
“People were just gathering in groups, not saying an awful lot but just being there in silent solidarity, embracing one another,” he said.
“It really is a silent witness where words are really inadequate.”
Two people who were badly injured in the crash had emergency surgery in Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital will pull through, Fr Boland added.
‘Tragic loss for the town’
Speaking at the vigil in Strabane on Friday evening, he said the community had come together to “stand in solidarity” with the family and grieving relatives.
The community then prayed the rosary in memory of the victims and in support of those who were injured.
“It’s just important to show the family that we’re all with them,” one woman attending the vigil told BBC News NI.
“It’s a tragic loss for the town of Strabane.”
The vigil was held at the Holy Grotto in Strabane
Thursday’s fatal crash is the latest to happen on the A5 road, which links the north-west with Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.
Plans to upgrade the road between Aughnacloy and New Buildings in County Londonderry were announced in 2007.
But they have been delayed amid funding issues and legal challenges.
The Department for Infrastructure said the estimated cost of the project was £1.6bn – up £400m since the last estimate.
Campaigners from Enough Is Enough, a group calling for the upgrade to take place, previously said 44 people have died on the road since 2007.
Alan Kilpatrick, who lives on the road where the crash happened, said it was dangerous.
He was one of the first people to arrive at the scene of the crash on Thursday morning.
“I don’t want to see what I saw again… because this is avoidable with a better road,” he told the BBC News NI.
He said there was a high volume of traffic on the road, including heavy commercial vehicles.
“Here is a main road between the largest city on the island, the whole north-west of the island and it’s absolutely horrendous,” Mr Kilpatrick said.
