The Crash that Shook Scotland

Families. Friends. A city. A nation united in grief. God's mercy and

good this... On Friday night, a terrible tragedy

struck the Clutha Bar in Glasgow's city centre. Since then, while

emergency services have battled to first rescue and then recover the

victims, Scotland has been in shock, in mourning. Tonight, we look at the

last 72 hours which have both devastated and united nation.

A Friday at the end of the month. For many, it is payday. Christmas is

less than a month away. The festivities, together with the start

of the St Andrews Day weekend, means Friday is a busier night than usual

in the city. The Clutha Bar on Stockwell Street has been a Glasgow

landmark for almost 200 years, a traditional pub, it has played host

over the years to bands and musicians such as Gerry Rafferty and

Billy Connelly. On Friday night, Esperanza were playing. Bar owner

Saverio Petri was expecting a busy night. Esperanza have a large

following in labs go and I was looking forward to seeing what would

happen. Brothers Michael and Billy were looking forward to going out. I

saw Esperanza were playing. I am friends with the manager and a

couple of people who also like them. It was great, I thought that would

be a good thing. I contacted Billy to see if you wanted to go out in

the afternoon and then go and see Esperanza in the Clutha Bar. 945 TM,

the band came on. Everyone was cheering. A really good atmosphere

in the pub. On the other side of Glasgow, a police helicopter,

callsign Sierra Papa 99 is on shift. It is based on the north side of the

River Clyde which has served Scotland for 11 years. A familiar

sight above the city streets, this easy 135 model is a favourite of

emergency services worldwide. The helicopter's exact flight path on

Friday night is unknown but at ten o'clock Sierra Papa 99 is flying

over the Merchant City area of blogs go. According to one witness, all

does not seem well. It was totally unusual for me to be in the car park

and when I got to the sixth floor, I heard a really loud mechanical

noise, like a car misfiring but 100 times louder. I looked above me and

found myself cowering down because it looked directly above me. I

looked above me, behind me and then straight in front and at 11 o'clock

that kind of direction, I could a helicopter. The revellers in the

Clutha Bar below remain oblivious to what is going on. The band,

Esperanza, are in full swing. The band were coming up to having a

break. The pub was as busy as the pub gets. At the time I remember

saying, Jesus Christ, there is a helicopter coming straight for me.

It was only the following day when my colleague recounted what I said,

that I said there was a helicopter about to crash into the car park,

and I hung up and I saw this terrible form of the helicopter

tumbling nose over tail. It fell beyond the residential flats in

front of me. That was the last I saw of it. Those in the bar below

seconds away from becoming part of a disaster which shocks the world. I

was in the pub with four mates of mine. One of them went outside for a

fag break so I joined him. Fire David Traill there was a ska band

on. -- there was a ska band on. There was a whoosh noise. I heard an

engine above me, I looked above me, it was getting louder and louder. I

spotted a helicopter falling from the sky. Within seconds, News begins

spreading on social media. I heard a very loud bang. There was smoke. We

were laughing that the band had made the roof come down. They carried on

playing. At first, I thought the speakers had possibly blown. But

then I looked around and the cloud of dust suddenly took over the whole

pub. Someone started screaming and the whole pub filled with dust. You

could not see anything. The ceiling had fallen onto the bar, in the

central bit of the pub will stop that is when I realised things was

serious. You could not breathe. Every time you took a breath, it was

caught in your mouth. I saw what appeared to be a flash. There was a

loud noise. I heard a crash, bang, and indescribable noise. My first

instinct was that was a door slamming but obviously, it was

louder than that. The pub was plunged into darkness. Rubble

started to fall. A sort of bitter silence. I turned to my left hand

side and saw that the ceiling had collapsed onto the bar. A second

later I turned back around and it seemed like the band were still

playing but this was a matter of microseconds. The band obviously

realised something had happened. One of the singers said, I told you I

would bring the roof down, obviously, completely unaware of

what had happened. The whole ceiling had collapsed in on itself and a

gantry on the bar had also collapsed in on itself. There was an initial

bout of screaming. I was hit by some flying debris which knocked me down

behind the bar. At this point... There was debris falling all around

me. There was a huge ball of dust. It seemed as if that helped. We

could see what was going on. When I looked over to the left-hand side of

the pub, it was almost as if it was not there. There was no left-hand

side of the pub. I could not see anything past the middle of the bar.

There was debris and carnage. I went and I'm sure there were other people

as well, I'm certain of that, and opened the doors. As I approached

the door, I was about ten feet from the door and I could see my brother

was standing at the door. Whilst I was holding the door I saw my

brother will stop we were getting people out. Just saying, everything

will be OK, it will be fine, because it was at that time. It was getting

more and more dusty. I stepped inside to see if there was anyone

still around. I cannot recall if I was shouting, is everyone OK, I

cannot recall the time remember -- but I remember it was quiet. I could

see the bar had collapsed. I looked over to the right-hand where we were

standing and I could not see anyone. I am almost satisfied that everyone

in the area where we were standing had vacated the building and was

safe. And then I turned around. You knew it was something really

serious, some think horrific and serious had happened. We macro I

could see people coming out of the pub is covered in blood and covered

in dust. I saw the two chaps lying on the floor, on the ground. The

structure of the bar was kind of placed over them from the waist

down. Both chaps were lying there. The chap nearest to me was lying

with his eyes wide open, his arms stretched out. And... I thought they

had passed away, they looked like mannequins, I feared the worst for

them. I turned around and my brother was there. I shouted for some help.

There was another chap who I don't know. It was great that he helped.

We went over to the gantry part of the bar, or some kind of structure

that seemed to be on top of the chaps. We lifted it up without any

thoughts or hesitations, this is just what we need to do. I could not

tell you how heavy it was. I have no recollection. We just lifted the

struck up and shouted for somebody to help and dragged the chap out. I

think that person was conscious. He was moaning. I heard him make a moan

and that was fantastic. I was relieved and I thought, the chap is

still alive, that is great. People formed a human chain, side-by-side

to help pull injured people out and just the person from one another to

each other. There was a second person under him. That person did

not look to me, did not look conscious. He was face down. I

lifted the structure up and someone came and dragged the chap away. I

have no idea who it was. I do not even learned what the person looked

like -- I do not even remember what the person looked like. That person

may have been one of the fatalities, you do not know? I do not know but I

would not like to think that it was. Because... I would not like to think

that it was because that would be... That would be difficult. That would

be very difficult. I was in the immediate vicinity of the pub. About

ten people, half of them struggling to be conscious or unconscious and

the other four or five with varying degrees of wounds or injuries. It is

so soon after that it is hard to recollect exact Lee and because of

the dust and the determination for people to do the human thing before

the emergency services got here. There is blood on your shirt. Yeah,

it is not mine. Trapped in the pub, sisters Nancy

and Ann feared for their lives. I thought I was going to die. I

thought, where is my sister? I was old and I was screaming for my

sister. -- I was pulled out. I thought she was dead. I thought my

sister was dead. She is not going to make it. At one point, I started to

cuddle the guy in front of me will stop I said, what is your name? He

said George. I am screaming for my sister. I became aware of her voice.

She was screaming, my sister. When I heard that, I thought, thank God,

she is alive, I am alive, unbelievable. People were just doing

what they could, they were helping to bring people out, helping to

comfort people who were still trapped but it was the calmness

which was quite surprisingly. It is not something I have ever seen

before, it is not something I want to see again. Within minutes, the

emergency services are on the scene. We have got 125 firefighters, not

only working outside, but inside the building. We are carrying out

rescues. The art in the process of making the building stable, it is

very unsafe. But we are carrying out extensive work, and we will be here

for as long as it takes. I was made aware of the situation

quickly. I saw some people who were very seriously injured. I saw some

people who were showing no signs of life. They said it was a helicopter,

I was incredulous, I thought, it is not, it is this feeling that has

collapsed. Why would that happen? As I was walking past, I saw what I

thought was a piece of wood sticking out, with a yellow reflective part,

and I still thought, that is a rafter, something to do with the

structure of the building. I was not prepared to believe it was a

helicopter and that would happen on a Friday night. They do not crash

into pubs. Breaking news. We are hearing from

our colleagues in Scotland that there are reports that a helicopter

has crashed into the roof of a pub. As news spreads, it is not just the

emergency services who respond. I had been to a dinner dance with my

wife, I came home and switched on the midnight news. There it was. As

was to be the story again throughout the night, your first belief is,

this cannot be true, this cannot be true. But you listen and you think.

It is. It is a helicopter, and it is a police one. When I saw that, I

thought, right, this is it, this is what you do your job for. I got a

phone call from my son, he said, get on your telly. I put on one of the

news channels, and it said a helicopter had come down. Another

phone call said it was a police helicopter. It was a difference of

20 miles an hour then, I grabbed my stuff and I ran into the car. I went

down, quaking, to the barrier. There were the constables. I said, what do

you want me to do? The back-end of a helicopter sticking up through the

roof. I was watching it in the eyes of some of the cops, and this was a

crusade, not a job. No matter what it took, they were getting in there,

to get their folk back. Reverend Whitley goes to the hospitals, where

more than 30 people have now been taken. It expected there to be high

emotion, and instead, it was calm. It was not shocked, it was just a

calm, how is it that, out of the clear sky, when you are in somewhere

safe, inside a building, your whole world changes? From Reverend

Gilbraith, spiritual concerns turn to practical matters. I said to the

hotels, have you got any tea and coffee? Within 15 minutes, the

holiday inn had tea and coffee and flasks. There were muffins and all

the rest of it. People were appearing from Asda and Tesco, it

was like feeding the 5000. Within a matter of hours, the generosity was

amazing. At the hospitals, stories of shock and confusion. Full of

contradictions, one man said, I was standing in the door, and the next

thing I knew, I was lying on the ground outside. Very strange. As

dawn breaks over Glasgow, the city faces the full extent of the

tragedy. All of us have seen over the last few hours the speed and

effectiveness of the mobilisation of the emergency services in dealing

with this. We have also heard of the instinctive courage of ordinary

Glaswegians, who have helped their fellow citizens. This is a black day

for Glasgow and for Scotland. But it is also St Andrews Day. It is a day

we can take pride and courage in how we respond to adversity and tragedy.

That response from our emergency services and from ordinary citizens

has been exceptional. Then, the first official news of casualties.

32 injured people were taken by ambulance from the scene. Sadly, I

can also confirm one fatality. At first, we heard there was one. That

raised hope, because we knew a helicopter would have a crew of

three, and if only one fatality had occurred, that set your pulse

racing, gosh, the other two might have survived. That went on for

quite a long time. Hope rises. But not for long. Soon comes the news

that everybody has been fearing. We can now confirm that the number

of fatalities involved in this incident has risen to eight.

The city, the nation, begins to mourn.

As the tributes grow, many of the injured return to the scene. The

cold light of day bringing with it a stark reality. I have come out of

hospital, there was a man on the news, he was next to me. He was one

of the dead. For me, it became personal at 6:30pm last night. I was

hoping I would get home, because I had been out of the house since 7am.

I had missed 19 calls, a lot of them came from my sons. They had been

getting contacted by the family. The name was given, and I realised this

is no longer be doing what I should do as a chaplain, it had moved to a

different level. It was Kirsty Nelis who had been aboard the helicopter.

She had not survived. News of other confirmed victims begins to reach

loved ones, yet more bodies remain trapped. One man, his father a

regular, fears of a helicopter crash on his bus journey home. I was

sitting and this man behind me said, on his bus journey home. I was

were only four of us, he said, have you seen this? I said, what's that?

He said, look at this. They helicopter has crashed into the

Clutha Bar. Right away, I went, oh, my God. I went, my dad. I said, my

dad is in there. He said, you are joking. I said, he is dead. I said,

listen, I just know. After two days, he finally here's what he has been

dreading the most. He received a phone call if you hours ago? Yes,

about an hour ago. The police. They confirmed they are bringing to

people have # eight are bringing to people out. I have to go there to

identify my dad. So far, nine people have been confirmed as having died

in Friday's crash. Already, the investigation into what caused the

tragedy has begun. Cancers, though, will not come any time scene. --

answers. For the families, the weighting will be painful. Now, it

is a time of grieving and reflecting and supporting.

Candles lit to remember the dead. Thoughts and prayers for the

injured. We do not end this day in despair and loss. Our and set is

that we stand defiant, and that our great and vibrant and irrepressible

city shall stand together with our suffering ones and, hand-in-hand, go

forward, into the light. Into the light. That defiance, that

togetherness, shown so clearly by so many. I have just left the air Anne

Boleyn space to come here and talk to the flat paramedics, who knew

those involved. They are deeply upset with what has happened, but we

are working with them to provide what support we can. I have come

from the Cathedral and I have lit a candle to say a prayer for the

people that lost their life. On Friday night, Lasko experienced a

tragedy which reverberated around the world -- Glasgow. It will

continue to mourn and not soon forget. Yet a tragedy which many

feel has allowed a side of the city to shine through as never before. It

beggars belief, the heroism. These are heroes, these are true heroes,

the people that put themselves at risk to try to get people that they

do not know out of a pub to see bodies being dragged out. I cannot

thank the people of Glasgow in us. When that happened on Friday, nobody

had any regard for their own safety. It was a collective effort, a lot of

people helping, everybody that needed to be helped. I people that

could help them. The thing that will live with me will be the images of

the helicopter falling but also the people running towards the sea. That

will be with me until my dying day. It summed up Glasgow in seconds.

Glaswegians respond to everything with their heart first, with their

heart before any other part. Yes, there are times when that can be

unfortunate, but in a situation like this, it is so typical that they

respond without any hesitation. If somebody needs help, you help them,

that is the rules.