By Liam Allen BBC News at Olympia in London

For many of the 60 or 70 relatives of British tsunami victims present at London's Olympia, the first day of this mass inquest was a chance to try to find answers to the questions they still have about the deaths of their loved ones.

Relatives of Britons killed in the Tsunami still have questions

It soon became clear that those questions are many. That their relatives died in countries so far removed from the UK means that answers are not always easy to find.

With this difficulty comes frustration...and emotion.

The most poignant moment came early in the day's proceedings, as Met Police Commander Cressida Dick gave evidence.

There was solemn silence as the names of the 91 Britons who are the subject of the inquest and where they had died were projected onto a screen.

As Commander Dick read out the names, some relatives fought back tears as the name of their loved one approached.

Then came the questions.

At the end of the evidence of the inquest's first expert witness, Dr Tim Henstock, from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, one mother asked why an early warning system had not been in place.

"My daughter died on a very small island," said Liz Jones whose 23-year-old daughter Charlotte died in Racha Yai, south of Phuket in Thailand.

"When I visited it, I was surprised that it was well equipped with the internet and telephone systems. Why couldn't countries where it had hit call other countries?

"If my daughter had had five minutes she would have been alive today."

'No information'

Another woman said her brother "could have been saved by one phone call".

Why was there not one person in Phuket that could have told people in Phi Phi to get off the beach? Relative of Tsunami victim Alert 'may not have helped'

"He was on Phi Phi island and it hit at least an hour after the one in Phuket," she said.

"Why was there not one person in Phuket that could have told people in Phi Phi to get off the beach?"

And another relative claimed that a telephone call had been made from Phuket to Phi Phi.

"Everyone carried on as normal. No information was given at all," she said.

But Dr Henstock said people who knew the earthquake had hit "were not in a position to do anything on the ground".

"An early warning system does not help unless you have infrastructure and mechanisms and everyone knows what is supposed to be done if a warning comes in."

'Too devastated'

There was further anger from another relative after the second expert witness, Peter Troy, from the Department for International Development (DFID) had given evidence.

At no time do I remember seeing a DEC sign or collection tin saying that the money was being raised specifically for Asian victims of the tsunami Relative of Tsunami victim

She asked why none of the money raised by the Disaster Emergency Committee's (DEC) tsunami appeal fund was going to the families of UK victims.

"At no time do I remember seeing a DEC sign or collection tin saying that the money was being raised specifically for Asian victims of the tsunami," she said.

Family members of many of the UK victims were unable to work because they were still "too devastated" by the loss of loved ones, she added.

Mr Troy said he could not speak for the DEC but that there were organisations raising funds for British victims.

Evidence was also given by Det Chief Supt Nick Bracken, a senior identification manager with the Metropolitan Police.

Son's body

Following his evidence, Sharon Howard demanded to know why she had found out the body of her six-year-old son Taylor was being sent home from Thailand after a journalist had left a message on her answer phone.

Sharon Howard criticised police communication

Ms Howard survived the giant wave in Khao Lak Phang Nga that killed Taylor as well as his eight-year-old brother Nathan, and boyfriend David Page.

"It just beggars belief that a newspaper or a television reporter could phone up and tell you your child is on a plane home," she said.

"I was left a message on my mobile phone saying 'congratulations, your son is coming home today'.

"I think it is disgusting they could leave a message like that before the police had got in touch."

Mr Bracken said the information had been released by the Thai authorities before officers had chance to get in touch with Ms Howard's family liaison.

Coming up for a year on from the tsunami, it's clear that relatives of those Britons who died are still struggling to come to terms with their grief.

And the fact that their relatives died so many miles away - coupled with the confusion spawned by the unpreparedness of Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives for such a colossal disaster - mean that many of their outstanding questions will remain unanswered for the duration of this inquest at least.