Tributes to crash death officers

The officers were from the south Co Down area and died when their car crashed on a stretch of coastal road between Kilkeel and Warrenpoint shortly before 4am on Sunday.

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde led tributes to the men who were aged in their mid-20s to mid-30s, while it is understood two had young children.

There were no other vehicles involved in the crash and a senior officer will now investigate the tragedy, including claims a member of the public made a desperate bid to rescue the men.

The two full-time and two part-time officers have yet to be identified, but one who was named locally as Declan Greene lost three members of his family in an infamous Co Down fishing tragedy six years ago.

Sir Hugh said: "This is an extremely sad day for the family, friends and colleagues who served with the police officers who lost their lives in this tragic incident in the early hours of this morning.

"The police family have lost four fine police officers in what are deeply tragic circumstances and our heartfelt condolences go out to their families.

"Our thoughts are with them as they struggle to come to terms with their loss."

A `black box' recorder in the police Shogun vehicle will be key to uncovering what happened and police said they will investigate unconfirmed reports the blaze set-off ammunition in the car.

Police said the crash was still being investigated, but ruled out speculation the men had been trapped in the vehicle by a locking system and said: "We can clarify that the Shogun vehicle involved in the incident, does not use self-locking or automatically-locking doors."