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Lockerbie - 30 years on .................RIP

Barbara Fan

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I will never forget this day and was coming home from a Xmas night out with friends when i heard it on the car radio. It didnt seem possible that something like this could happen in Scotland.

It was heart rending reading stories of people affected by this atrocity and heart warming to read that farmers stayed with the bodies of people strapped in their seats over night as they didnt want them to be alone. That still makes me cry to this day.

In loving memory .................................

https://news.sky.com/story/lockerbi...terror-attack-that-killed-270-people-11587531

Lockerbie victims remembered - 30 years on from the terror attack that killed 270 people

The Queen has sent "prayers and good wishes" to the people of Dumfriesshire as they commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Lockerbie disaster.


It was on the 21st December 1988 that a Pan Am jet travelling between London and New York was bombed out of the sky.

All 259 passengers and crew on board were killed when the aircraft exploded in the skies above Lockerbie. Eleven people were killed on the ground when the wreckage fell.


A service of commemoration and a wreath laying will take place in the town to mark the anniversary and remember the victims.

Bereaved relatives will be among those gathered in the town's memorial garden at Dryfesdale Cemetery and a message from the Queen will be read by Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant for Dumfriesshire, in which she says: "Please convey my warm thanks to the people of Dumfriesshire for their kind message, sent on the occasion of their Remembrance Service to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing, which is being held today.

"I send my prayers and good wishes to all those who will be marking this solemn anniversary."

Scottish Secretary and local MP David Mundell will attend there service. Ahead of the anniversary, he said: "Lockerbie lost its anonymity that night. We went from a quiet small town to a centre of global attention in a few seconds.

"That was the scale of the challenge local people have faced, aside from the horrors of the air disaster itself. It has not been easy, nor have we been able to achieve the closure we would have wanted, even after 30 years.

"However, throughout, the people in Lockerbie have retained their dignity and stoicism, and offered friendship and support to those who lost loved ones."



Image: Olive Gordon was just 25 when she became one of the 270 victims of the Lockerbie disaster

Sky News spoke to Colin Gordon, who lost his older sister Olive on board Pan Am flight 103. It's the first time he has spoken publicly about events 30 years ago.

His sister was 25 at the time and was raising a young daughter on the William Bonney estate in Clapham. She was travelling to New York on holiday to visit friends.

In a tragic twist of fate, she had actually been due to travel on an earlier flight and only boarded the doomed aircraft because she had been delayed.

Colin was working in a hotel in Jamaica when he heard the news.



Image: Colin Gordon's sister Olive died on Pan Am flight 103

"I was handed this note. I opened it and it had this really bizarre message. It said 'come quickly, bring passport - death!'"

He said that when he realised what the note meant he felt "like someone had hit me with a sledgehammer".

But he said that in the following years the hardest part to deal with was the effect on his and Olivia's mother.

"I think that was the toughest thing," he said. "Watching my mother go through what any parent would dread - burying their child. That was the toughest thing."



Image: Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi died in 2012

The Lockerbie disaster remains Britain's biggest terrorist atrocity. A bomb exploded in the luggage hold of Pan Am flight 103 at 7.03pm as it flew at 31,000 feet en route to New York's JFK airport from London Heathrow.

The victims came from 21 countries - most were from the United States.


Only one man has ever been convicted of the bombing, Libyan national Abdel Basset ali-Mohmed al-Megrahi who died in 2012.

Some British relatives of Lockerbie victims believe that he was innocent and support continuing efforts to have his conviction overturned posthumously.

 

Swami

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It is still shocking that no more convictions have been secured in relation to this depraved atrocity.

May the innocent victims never be forgotten.

Swami
 

Mel O'Drama

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The horrifying imagery of this event has always chilled me. I remember it was initially reported as an accidental air disaster and it was years before I learnt it was a deliberate attack.

Lockerbie as a place has long fascinated me. It looked so pretty and the warmth of the residents shone through in the coverage. Recently I’ve read some heartwarming stories of the beautiful connection between people on both sides of the Atlantic who would never have met if not for this event.

The year before last I was in the area and visited the town. After a few hours at a beautiful nature reserve there watching red squirrels I realised I was right by the visitor centre and the memorial garden and attended both, being moved all over again.

In particular I was impressed with the locals’ attitudes towards it. The visitor centre still refers to it as an air disaster so as to keep the focus on the human relationships.

At the memorial garden I spoke to a couple who were visiting from the States. Their child was one of the students who had died that day and they came twice a year to be close to them. It was a humbling experience and one that will stay with me always.
 

Barbara Fan

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I dont think they will ever find out who was behind it asides from the man who went to prison.

Lockerbie is a place i pass but never turn off the M74 when heading south. After reading @Mel O'Kalikimaka story i may pay it a visit.

The stories and acts of kindness of the locals at the time restores your faith in human nature and you are correct. There is a great bond with people who were affected by it all.

I think it must have been horrific for the emergency services on call that night.
 

Sarah

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For me the cockpit lying in the field is a lasting image. Many years later when I looked up where Lockerbie was, I was horried seeing that the plane could have also easily exploded over Northern Ireland. Scotland are our closest neighbours.
 
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