50 years since Clarkston Toll Gas Explosion
We are speaking exclusively to a man who lost his mum to the blast which killed 22 people.
Clyde 1 is exclusively hearing from a man whose mum went to work in Clarkston 50 years ago today and didn't return home.
Twenty-two people died and hundreds were injured when an accidental gas leak underneath shops on the Clarkston Toll caused an explosion on October 20, 1971.
Raymond Fox was just 13 at the time and his mother got the bus to work every morning to start her shift at the local bakery.
He said: "When I got home from school that day, I heard on the news there had been a significant explosion, but I didn't understand how bad it really was.
"My dad came home and he was distraught and I had never seen him like that before."
"The police told him there was nothing he could do"
Raymond added: "He had heard about it at his work and he drove to Clarkston to try to see what had happened.
"When he looked down towards Clarkston Toll he saw utter devastation.
"The shops had gone including the bakery where my mother worked and the police told him there was nothing he could do and he had to go home."
"I don't talk about it very often"
Raymond waited days to find out what had happened to his mum because it took the police a while to find and identify her.
He added: "I remember it felt like a week, but in actual fact it was only really a couple of days.
"Time had slowed down.
"I don't talk about it very often because I go back to being that 13-year-old boy."
"I never understood why I felt so moved by these things"
Raymond claims he has been particularly affected by major tragedies which have taken place since the incident.
"As I grew, older I found myself being very moved by other disasters around the world where buildings had collapsed.
"I never understood for a long time why I felt so moved by these things.
"I was really upset at 9/11 and I think it was at that point I realised why I felt the way I did and it was because of Clarkston.
"My heart goes out to the families of victims of similar disasters whether they are in the UK or around the world."
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