Lockerbie bombing: Services mark 25th anniversary

Services are being held at a number of venues to mark the events in the town of Lockerbie 25 years ago

Memorial services are to be held in the UK and the US to mark the 25th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing in which 270 people were killed.

A wreath-laying and church service will be held in the south of Scotland town which was devastated when Pan Am flight 103 was blown from the skies in 1988.

A remembrance service is also being staged at Westminster Abbey in London.

In the US, a ceremony will take place at the memorial cairn in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington DC.

The Lockerbie bombing remains the deadliest act of terrorism ever committed in the UK and until the attacks of 9/11 it was also responsible for the biggest single loss of American lives in such an attack.

The Boeing 747 was just over half an hour into its flight from London to New York when it exploded, seconds before 19:03 UK time, on 21 December 1988.

Memorial cairn

All 243 passengers and 16 crew died, and a further 11 people were killed in their homes when wreckage hit the ground in Lockerbie.

The majority of the passengers and crew on board the aircraft were US citizens.

In the United States, a service of "hope and remembrance" is planned at the Hendricks Chapel of Syracuse University in New York state, which lost 35 students who had been studying at its London campus. The service will be followed by a procession to its Wall of Remembrance.

A further service will also take place at the university's Lubin House in New York.

Events at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia will centre on its Pan Am 103 Memorial Cairn.

It is made of 270 blocks of Scottish sandstone - one for each of the victims of the bombing.

Events in Lockerbie will see a wreath-laying at the Dryfesdale Cemetery in the afternoon with a service at the Dryfesdale Church in the evening which will have the theme of "looking forward".

One man, Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, was convicted of the bombing at a special Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands in 2001.

He was released from jail on compassionate grounds in 2009 after he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.

He died in his home in Tripoli last year.

'Fortitude and resilience'

UK Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to the "fortitude and resilience" of those affected by the Lockerbie bombing.

He said: "Over the last quarter of a century much attention has been focused on the perpetrators of the atrocity. Today our thoughts turn to its victims and to those whose lives have been touched and changed by what happened at Lockerbie that night.

"To families, friends, neighbours, loved ones, and all those caught up in the painful process of recovery, let us say to them: our admiration for you is unconditional.

"For the fortitude and resilience you have shown. For your determination never to give up. You have shown that terrorist acts cannot crush the human spirit. That is why terrorism will never prevail."

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, who will be attending the wreath-laying in Lockerbie, said: "On this 25-year anniversary, and as the country prepares once more to relive the harrowing events of that terrible night, it is important that we remember that the pain and suffering of the families and friends of those who died has endured since that winter night in 1988."

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will be attending the Westminster Abbey ceremony, as will Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael.

Scotland Office Minister David Mundell will attend the service at the Arlington National Cemetery.
Source:BBC