LISTEN: Residents 'carry the weight' of Lockerbie 35 years on

Pan Am 103 was brought down over the south west Scotland town on the 21st of December, killing everyone on-board.

Author: Joseph GartlyPublished 18th Dec 2023
Last updated 18th Dec 2023

On the 21st of December, 1988, commercial plane Pan Am 103 was flying from London to New York when it exploded at over 30,000 feet.

The explosion killed all 259 people on the plane, many of whom were Americans heading home for Christmas, as well as 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie.

In this documentary for heat radio we take a look at the legacy of that night 35 years on.

You can also listen here: Carrying The Weight Of Lockerbie

If you need any support on any of the issues we've raised throughout our coverage visit the Tim Parry and Johnathon Ball Foundation who can help provide comprehensive support to victims and survivors of terrorism.

You can also visit Victim Support

The fields in which Pan Am 103's nose cone landed

Lockerbie Bombing anniversary

Former Libyan intelligence officer, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is so far the only man convicted in relation to the bombing, after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, sitting at a special court in the Hague in 2001.

He was sent to prison in Scotland, but was controversially granted compassionate release in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, returning home to Libya where he died in 2012.

Throughout the week of the anniversary we'll be hearing stories from Lockerbie and speaking to residents and first-responders to hear their first hand accounts of what they witnessed that night.

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