Church of Scotland Moderator remembers Lockerbie bombing victims

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland lays flowers at the Lockerbie Air Disaster Memorial(Photo: Church of Scotland)

The Moderator of the Church of Scotland General Assembly has laid flowers to remember the victims of the Lockerbie air disaster.

This year marks 30 years since Pan Am Flight 103 exploded 31,000 feet over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988.

The explosion was caused by a terrorist bomb planted on board the Boeing 747 making its way from London to New York.

All 259 people on board were killed, as well as 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie.  Libyan Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was later convicted of carrying out the attack.

Moderator the Rt Rev Susan Brown laid flowers at the Lockerbie Air Disaster Memorial that sits within the Garden of Remembrance at Dryfesdale Lodge outside the town.

She also signed the Book of Remembrance at Tundergarth Church, which is close to the place where the nose cone of the jumbo jet landed.

Many people living in the town of Lockerbie still remember the night of the tragedy and Mrs Brown spent time meeting and talking with them.

The visit to Lockerbie is part of an eight-day trip to the Presbytery of Annandale and Eskdale in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland.

Mrs Brown said the visit to the memorial sites had been incredibly moving.

'I have been struck by the people, the history, the geography, the faith and the stories of the people of Annandale and Eskdale,' she said.