An inquest into the death of three people on the A5 road near Aughnacloy has heard the minibus they were travelling in veered on to the wrong side of the road.

Dan McKane, his sister Christine McKane and their aunt Julia McSorley were killed when the minibus was in a collision with a lorry on the A5 Tullyvar Road on 27 April 2023.

The inquest heard the vehicles involved were in good working order and there were no defects in the road.

The coroner said it was not possible to say why the minibus crossed the central line.

The inquest heard the family had been returning home from Dublin port after taking an overnight ferry from Holyhead.

They were in a nine-seater Ford Transit minibus with Dan McKane driving.

His brother William McKane told the coroner he was an experienced driver and very familiar with the road where the crash happened.

The two brothers had shared the driving from Corby, England where they had been for a family funeral.

William McKane said Dan was "in good form", eating sweets and chatting during the drive.

"He knew the road like the back of his hand," he said.

His wife Anne Marie McKane told the inquest she had been sleeping at the time of the crash and woke with the impact saying it was "huge and so loud like something had burst".

The inquest heard from some of the emergency services who attended the crash.

A member of the Ambulance Service who was sent to the collision said it was a "horrific" scene.

He said he assessed that there was "nothing more that could be done" for the three deceased at the scene.

A police officer who attended the aftermath of the crash told the inquest that police very quickly seized dash-cam footage from the Scania lorry involved in the collision.

The coroner also read parts of a statement from the driver of the lorry.

It outlined his devastation at the collision, how he now struggles to sleep and thinks of the victims "everyday".

The lorry driver is an experienced HGV driver who regularly drove the Tullyvar road.

In the statement he said the minibus had veered into his lane.

"He hit me before I had a chance to brake," he said.

A report from a pathologist said all three of the family members died very quickly at the scene from multiple injuries.

The death of Dan McKane was "very rapid" and he had no traces of alcohol or drugs in his system.

His sister Christine McKane's injuries were "rapidly fatal" and Julia McSorley had multiple injuries and died "virtually instantaneously".

The inquest also heard from a specialist accident investigator who said there were no defects in either vehicle at the time the crash happened.

Dr Emerson Callender said he paid special attention to the steering, brakes and suspension of both vehicles.

Footage from the lorry's dash cam was played at the inquest.

Dr Callender described how the minibus only appeared coming around the corner 2.7 seconds before impact and it was, at that point, positioned close to the central hazard lines.

Then one second before impact the minibus crossed over the central line into the path of the lorry.

He said the footage showed the lorry driver "responding very quickly" by braking as he had been "paying attention to the road ahead".

Dr Callender said the footage appeared to show that Dan McKane, as the driver of the minibus, had steered to some extent around the bend.

But there was "insufficient steering support to remain in his lane coming round the corner".

Dr Callender said the minibus was being driven at between 41-43mph at the time of impact and that while the lorry's speed was judged to be around 44-47mph, it's not possible to say that the outcome would be any different had it been travelling slower.

Presenting his findings to the inquest the coroner said the minibus was partially on the other side of the road while the lorry was in its lane.

He was unable to say why the minibus hadn't maintained its position in the Ballygawley bound lane.

As he formally closed the inquest he expressed his condolences to the family, who he said had conducted themselves with dignity.