Shortly after 19.00 hrs the Boeing 747, on it's route from London Heathrow to New York JFK crashed onto the small village of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259 passengers on board and 11 individuals on the ground,the result as we now know of a bomb placed on the aircraft.
Lockerbie.
It took until January 2001 to get Lybian Abdelbaset ali Mohmed al-Megrahi into court and convicted of the crime, the man accused of being his accomplice was found not guilty.
Lockerbie is a small town in the South West of Scotland, at the time of the disaster it was for me, like so many, a terrible tragedy reported in the news. An incident of magnitude and another act of terrorism inflicted on Britain but somehow removed from my own life. I was of course horrified, it was a sadness for those involved on both sides of the Atlantic that was for most without precedent but in that strange way, I suppose like many items reported on the news it seemed somewhat removed from my own life.
Sixteen years on and Lockerbie is now not far from home. For me, that alone has bought the horror of that night into stark reality. I have met people who in one way or another were involved, smaller items concerning the incident and the village are reported on local news here and knowing the area in reality makes the mental images much sharper.
I have never visited Lockerbie itself, I have had no cause too thus far and to do so would seem only to be morbid curiosity. The town has rallied, a memorial to those that died that winters night sixteen years ago, has been erected, the residents have pulled themselves up by the boot straps and rebuilt their lives and the perpetrator has been finally been incarcerated, but as I sit here, surrounded by the same countryside and terrain I can't begin to imagine the terror just a few miles away, suffered by those on board bound homeward for Christmas, or that of those who watched a 747 fall out of the Christmas night sky onto their village.
My thoughts today are with those who lost a loved one in this act of terrorism.
5 Comments:
Wow Gem...it seems like yesterday to me. It was big news here, a few aussies died in the accident, it was really one of a kind terrorism for its day. Who knew it would lead into what we have today in our unstable world.....very sad.
It seems only a year or two ago to me too and yes, who would have guessed the scale to which terrorism would grow. In the UK we were sadly used to the IRA but this incident was the start it seems, of a different type of terrorism. Very sad indeed.
I too remember the crash and it was horrible - all over the news. It seemed at the time to be an unthinkable occurance didn't it? Now not so much - now that kind of thing isn't a surprise anymore. Very scary. Stuff like that seemed impossible and so "foriegn" in the US. We liked to feel we were invincible. Well, now we know.
Yes, Scarlett, unfortunately we now KNOW. :( gemmak, this post gave me the chills, but by the same token it was a beautiful tribute to those loved ones that perished in the night that winter evening! You're so eloquent my friend! : )
I remember we made up a book of prayers and good wishes at school to send to Lockerbie. All the Juniors contributed.
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