Clarkston falls silent in tribute to gas disaster victims 50 years on

Across East Renfrewshire people were urged to stop and pause and join in a minute silence at 2.50pm yesterday.

Read more: 50 years on from the Clarkston gas explosion

For some they could recall exactly where they were when the gas explosion ripped through the shopping area while people were going about their daily business.

Bravely survivors spoke as loved ones remembered at a memorial tree close to the disaster scene.

Joining them was East Renfrewshire Deputy Provost, Councillor Betty Cunningham.

Members of the Clarkston community marked the 50th anniversary of the town's gas explosion which took 22 lives with a ceremony. Photo by Gordon Terris.

She said: “The tragedy at Clarkston took the lives of 22 people and injured many more, but the effect of the explosion was felt by many more besides. Today was an opportunity to remember those lost, those who were injured and remember the lives saved by courageous local people and hard-working members of the emergency services who rushed to the scene. We’d like to thank everyone for joining us today to mark this sad day.”

Families consoled one another with a comforting arm placed around one grieving relative as piper Iain Grant played a lament while floral tributes were laid in memory of the 22 who died.

Members of the Clarkston community marked the 50th anniversary of the town's gas explosion which took 22 lives with a ceremony. Photo by Gordon Terris.

In the days before the blast people had been complaining about a smell of gas before an employee of the Gas Board came to investigate, but he told a young shop assistant there was nothing to worry about.

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At 2.52pm there was a loud rumbling sound then a bang. The windows of the laundry and other buildings wer blown in with glass everywhere. Cyril Ewart ran out into the road, but the air was filled with a dark cloud of smoke and dust.

The 60-year-old couldn't see a thing and he struggled to breathe, but through the dust he could hear screams for help.

The Clarkston disaster claimed the lives of 22 people and left more than 100 people injured.

The force of the blast saw ten of the shops in the precinct gone, reduced to nothing but rubble.

Remarkably that afternoon 23-year-old salesman Thomas Henderson came staggering over the stones. He had been parking in the car park on the roof. All he remembered was an awful bang and the roof giving way underneath him. His car slithered down on to the rubble but managed to get out and clamber over a pile of bricks to reach the pavement.

Members of the Clarkston community marked the 50th anniversary of the town's gas explosion which took 22 lives with a ceremony. Photo by Gordon Terris.

Neil McPherson was just 13 years old when he lost his sister Karen Fisher in the blast.

He remembers the day he heard what had happened. It was a holiday weekend and he’d just got home from school. His mum told him there’d been an explosion in Clarkston. He remembers there were rumours it might have been an IRA bomb. “I went to bed that night,” he says, “and my mother told me ‘I don’t think you’ll see your sister again’.”

Karen’s body was the last to be taken out of the rubble. Her friend Agnes had been in one shop and Karen was in another and because she was downstairs it took longer for the rescuers to reach her. More than 100 police officers and 20 fire-brigade units attended the scene, as well as every available ambulance in Glasgow.

Eventually, Mr McPherson and his parents and his three older siblings knew that Karen had definitely been killed. There had been some hope as the rescuers did their work. At one point, just a couple of hours after the blast, a policeman with a loudspeaker addressed the crowd of almost 400 that was gathered round the disaster zone. “Will every person remain still,” he said. “Do not move.” For five minutes, the firemen and the police anxiously listened for cries from the rubble. But there was silence. Soon afterwards, another body was located and taken from the ruins.

A fatal accident inquiry was held but it concluded that no one was to blame and Mr McPherson believes the inquiry was inadequate.

He said: “The fatal accident inquiry concluded in about three months; it would take about ten years today to get all the evidence and tests together now. My parents weren’t even asked to take part. How can you have a gas leak for a week complaining about the smell, the gas board there digging holes and whatever else and people walking past with cigarettes and god knows what else and not be to blame for it?”