Cleric: 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing will never be forgotten
LONDON — The tragedy of Lockerbie will never be forgotten, a Church of Scotland minister vowed Friday as memorial services were held in Scotland and the United States to honour the 270 people killed when a bomb brought a Pan Am plane down over the Scottish town 30 years ago.
At a service at Dryfesdale Cemetery in Lockerbie, prayers were read, a moment of silence was held, and wreaths were laid before a memorial with the names of the 270 victims. Relatives of the victims and a representative of Queen Elizabeth II were among those attending.
The bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 on Dec. 21, 1988, was the biggest mass murder on British soil in recent history. The plane was blown up in midair by the detonation of an explosive hidden in a suitcase in the cargo hold. All 259 people on board the flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to New York were killed and 11 more were killed on the ground.
“Scars from 30 years ago remain — they leave a mark that can never be removed,” said the Rev. Susan Brown. “But while they will not disappear altogether, and while we would never want to forget the horrendous cost of that single hateful act, we realize all the more acutely the sweetness of life and the need for it to be lived to the full.”