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Friday 19 August 2011

Norway victims' families visit island shooting scene

By the CNN Wire Staff
August 19, 2011 -- Updated 1232 GMT (2032 HKT)
Relatives of the victims killed during a shooting rampage on Utoya island on July 22, 2011 gather on the island on Friday.
Relatives of the victims killed during a shooting rampage on Utoya island on July 22, 2011 gather on the island on Friday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: Anders Breivik, the man accused of carrying out attacks that killed 77, appears in court
  • Police will show relatives of the victims of a mass shooting where they died, state media say
  • 69 people died in a gun rampage on Norway's Utoya island a month ago
  • Breivik is also accused of bombing in Oslo on the same day, which killed eight people

(CNN) -- The families of the victims of a mass shooting rampage on a Norwegian island are visiting the scene Friday, a month after two attacks plunged the Scandinavian nation into mourning.

Sixty-nine people died July 22 on Utoya island, where hundreds of mostly young people were gathered for a summer camp held by the youth wing of the governing Labour Party. Eight others died in the bombing of Oslo government buildings hours earlier.

TV footage showed the first group of relatives of victims of the shooting walking in line as they arrived on Utoya island in the rain.

"It is a very important and emotional day for these families," Health Minister Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen said, according to Norway's official NTB news agency.

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A policeman will show each family where their loved one was found after the attack, NTB reported. The families will also be accompanied by Red Cross representatives.

Many of the 69 families affected have said they plan to visit the island over the weekend, Norwegian reports say.

Meanwhile, Anders Breivik, the man accused of carrying out both attacks, appeared in court in Oslo as police asked to be allowed to continue to hold him in solitary confinement beyond Monday.

The judge is expected to give a decision later Friday, Norwegian media reports said.

At an initial court appearance for Breivik last month, the police were granted eight weeks' custody, four of them in isolation. Suspects are not normally held in isolation for longer than two weeks in Norway, according to local media reports.

Breivik asked to be present for the arguments and was expected to tell the court how difficult it is to be in isolation, NRK quoted his lawyer Geir Lippestad as saying.

Lippestad told CNN he would speak to reporters after the court proceedings.

Police are also expected to give a news conference after Breivik's appearance, which is not open to the public or media.

Norwegian newspaper VG reports that a relative of one of the victims had asked to be present at the hearing but his request was refused by the court

Breivik, 32, was taken back to Utoya -- which remains a crime scene -- on Saturday as part of a police investigation into the rampage.

Police said they spent nearly eight hours questioning Breivik and walking with him around the island during a reconstruction of the attack. They said he "was not emotionally unmoved," but did not express remorse during his return to the scene.

Breivik has been held in solitary confinement since he was taken into custody on the island on July 22.

He has admitted carrying out the attacks, his lawyer and a judge have said, but has pleaded not guilty in court.

The ages of the 77 people killed in the twin attacks ranged from 14 to 61, with an average age of 21, the government said.

CNN's Cynthia Wamwayi and journalist Olav Mellingsaeter contributed to this report.

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