The moderator of the Church of Scotland has urged the people of Glasgow to “travel with the grieving”, as relatives of those who died in Monday’s devastating crash visited the still-growing bank of floral tributes left for victims by members of the public.
The six people who were killed by an out-of-control bin lorry that ploughed through pedestrians in George Square as it thronged with last-minute shoppers were remembered on Christmas Day at church services across the city.
More than 700 worshippers at Glasgow Cathedral observed a minute’s silence, and a candle was lit for the dead.
Three members of the same family died in the accident. Erin McQuade, an eighteen-year-old university student, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine, 69, all from Dumbarton, were killed as the lorry mounted the pavement. Erin’s mother, Jacqueline McQuade, was withdrawing money from a nearby cash machine when she heard the screams of her daughter and parents.
Jacqueline Morton, 51, a tax worker from Glasgow, is believed to have left her office early to pick up her grandchildren when she was struck. Primary school teacher Stephenie Tait, 29, from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh also died.
Ten people were injured as the lorry scattered pedestrians “like pinballs”, according to witnesses, and four remain in hospitals around the city.
A 14-year-old girl, two women aged 18 and 64, and the 57-year-old man who was driving the lorry are all now in a stable condition, according to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
In an open letter published on Friday morning, the Right Rev John Chalmers said: “People of Glasgow and particularly those families closest to this tragedy and trauma, please be assured that there are people willing to journey with you through this testing time while the rest of us continue to remember you in our thoughts and prayers.”
A group of around 20 relatives wept as they surveyed the bouquets, candles and cards that have been left by members of the public outside Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art, the Daily Record reported.
Chalmers said that he knew of one minister who is sitting with a family that had lost their daughter. “She is not trying to offer explanations, but her job this Christmas is to be there, to pray with few words and to light a candle in the darkness. The world is all the poorer for the loss of each one of the lives of those who died.”
On Christmas Eve, the archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia, told a memorial service how he wept with Jacqueline McQuade on the evening of the accident.
Describing the “abyss” of the family’s loss, the Catholic archbishop told the congregation at St Andrew’s cathedral: “On the evening of the tragedy I was privileged to be permitted to spend time with one of the families who had been cruelly devastated by the incident.
“[The woman] had seen her own daughter and parents killed almost in front of her. Can you imagine the horror? Can you imagine her sadness? We spoke together, we cried and we were silent before the abyss of their loss and the random meaninglessness of what had happened.”
Although the Christmas lights in George Square were lit again on Wednesday evening, more than 72,000 people signed up to a Facebook page which asked participants to turn off their own decorations at 9pm on Christmas Eve, and hold a two-minute silence in their homes.
The ice rink and amusements in George Square, the focus of Glasgow festive celebrations, will re-open on Friday.
Police Scotland have made a fresh appeal for members of the public to send them any footage of the crash and its aftermath, saying that they were conducting a “thorough and exhaustive” inquiry into the crash and stressing there was nothing to suggest it was “a deliberate or malicious act”. Anyone with footage of the incident should send it to georgesquareincident@scotland.pnn.police.uk.
Donations continue to flood in to an appeal fund announced for the victims of the crash. Glasgow city council is donating £20,000 with the lord provost’s fund and the Scottish government both adding a further £20,000. Donations can be made at any bank using the sort code 834400 and account number 10809775, or by calling 0141 287 7878 and paying by debit or credit card.
