The victims of Monday’s devastating crash in Glasgow’s George Square are being remembered at Christmas services across the country.
Christmas lights in homes across Scotland were dimmed on Wednesday night as a mark of respect for those who died and were injured when an out-of-control bin lorry ploughed into pedestrians.
Although the Christmas lights in George Square, the scene of the accident which claimed six lives, 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, and hold a two-minute silence in their homes.
On Christmas Eve, the archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia, told a memorial service how he wept with the woman who lost both her daughter and parents when the lorry ploughed through pedestrians in the square full of Christmas shoppers.
Jacqueline McQuade, the mother of 18-year-old university student Erin, was withdrawing money from a cash machine when she heard the screams of her daughter and parents, Jack and Lorraine Sweeney, as the lorry mounted the pavement.
Describing the “abyss” of the family’s loss, the Catholic archbishop told the congregation at St Andrew’s aathedral: “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 the loss? We spoke together, we cried and we were silent before the abyss of their loss and the random meaninglessness of what had happened.”
Leading the mass of consolation, Tartaglia read through the names of the dead. Six people were killed on Monday afternoon: Erin McQuade; her grandparents Jack, 68, and Lorraine, 69, all from Dumbarton; primary school teacher Stephenie Tait, 29, from Glasgow; Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh; and Jacqueline Morton, 51, a grandmother and tax worker also from Glasgow.
The service was attended by members of the public, politicians including Scotland’s deputy first minister, John Swinney, and the shadow Scottish secretary, Margaret Curran, representatives of the police and emergency services, and the chairman of Celtic football club, Peter Lawwell.
Prayers were offered for the dead and injured, their families and friends, the emergency services who dealt with the incident and all those affected across the city. Tartaglia spoke of the especially poignant timing of the crash: “Just over a year ago we had the Clutha disaster [when 10 died after a police helicopter crashed into a Clydeside pub] and now we have the George Square tragedy.” He added: “Just as we were preparing for Christmas our city of Glasgow is in mourning again.”
The family of Jacqueline Morton, 51, and who had left work early to pick up her granddaughters at the time of the crash, released a statement expressing their “shock and sadness”.
“Partner John, sons Adam, Scott and the family are deeply shocked and saddened about the tragic accident on Monday culminating in the loss of our Jacqueline.
“We would like to pass on our thoughts and prayers to other families affected by this tragedy. We would like to pass on our thanks to the people who got to Jacqueline first and also to the emergency services at this difficult time.”
Ten people were also injured as the lorry mounted the pavement at speed, scattering pedestrians “like pinballs”, according to witnesses.
On Wednesday, five of the injured, including two teenaged girls, remained in three hospitals across Glasgow. There were three patients in Glasgow Royal Infirmary: a 14-year-old girl who is serious but stable, an 18-year-old woman and a 64-year-old woman, both of whom are in a stable condition.
A 57-year-old man was being treated at the Western Infirmary and is in a stable condition. It is believed that he was the driver of the bin lorry. A 49-year-old woman, who is being treated at the Southern General hospital, is also stable.
The brother of one of the women who is being treated at Glasgow Royal Infirmary told BBC Scotland that she could not remember anything about the incident, which happened when she was Christmas shopping.
John Weatherall – who did not want his sister’s name to be made public – said she had broken her left arm and leg in multiple places as well as facial injuries.
“She had two operations yesterday, she came through them. My sister is very strong willed, very strong spirited so hopefully she is on the mend.”
He went on to thank the emergency services, hospital staff and members of the public who had helped. “They have been brilliant. Obviously a lot of strangers helped on the spot, the hospital has been brilliant and the staff have just been marvellous. We have been so well looked after.”
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”.
Police reopened the crash site late on Tuesday afternoon, and George Square’s Christmas lights were switched on later on Wednesday. The fairground and skating rink, the main focus of Glasgow’s festivities, will remain closed until Boxing Day.
Among the lunchtime shoppers on Wednesday, those walking with greater purpose, a single bunch of flowers in their hands, were easy to spot. The bank of floral tributes outside Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art continued to grow as Glaswegians and others visited to pay their respects to the victims of the crash.
Six candle-lit lanterns stood at the edge of the display, one for each of those who died. The plastic wrappings of the flowers, mainly bought from local supermarkets, fluttered in the sharp winter wind.
A wreath of roses and chrysanthemums displayed a card signed from Celtic football club, of which Jack Sweeney was a supporter. A solitary green and white Celtic scarf was hanging on nearby railings.
An arrangement of lilies and roses had been left by the staff and students of Glasgow University: Stephenie Tait was a graduate, while Erin McQuade had recently begun an English degree there.
Other messages from individuals expressed shock and disbelief, offering thoughts and prayers for the families of those dead and injured. 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.
Police Scotland said anyone with footage of the incident should send it to georgesquareincident@scotland.pnn.police.uk.
