Relatives of Norway shooting victims visit island of death

Relatives of the victims of the Utoya shootings have visited the Norwegian island almost a month after the killings.

About 1,500 people are expected to visit the island over two days to mourn the 69 people shot dead by Anders Behring Breivik at a summer camp for young people on 22 July.

The first official visits by the victims’ families came as the killer made his second court appearance in the Norwegian capital Oslo.

Breivik has already admitted carrying out the shootings and planting a bomb that killed eight more people in Oslo on the same day.

He spent three months mixing fertiliser, aspirin and other chemicals on a remote farm before driving a hire car loaded with the explosives to the centre of the city and triggering the device outside government offices.

He then drove to Utoya where he put on clothes resembling a police uniform before calmly shooting youngsters.

His terrified victims tried to hide under beds or in the woods and some jumped into the lake and tried to swim to the mainland.

Last Saturday, police escorted Breivik to the island to try to reconstruct the shooting spree. They are expected to pass on information to the victims’ families about about exactly where and how their loved ones were killed.

Police have so far said they believe Breivik acted alone. Investigators are asking the court to extend the terms of the gunman’s detention so he stays in solitary confinement.

Norway’s police have come under criticism for the way they responded to the shooting. Relatives of the victims and media reports have said officers may have responded too slowly.