GLASGOW, Dec 1 — Candles were lit today as Scotland remembered the Glasgow pub helicopter crash victims, while rescuers toiled to salvage bodies from the wreckage.
Emergency service workers began attempts to winch the police aircraft back through the roof of The Clutha, where it is feared further corpses will be found under its carcass, raising the death toll.
Eight fatalities have been announced so far, with one victim formally named. The second body to be removed from the scene was taken to a hospital today for identification, while 12 people remain in hospital with serious injuries.
Well over 100 people were watching a Glaswegian ska band in the popular live music bar on Friday night when the unexplained disaster struck.
The weekend was meant to be one of festivities for Saint Andrew's Day, Scotland's patron saint.
Instead, in sombre scenes, eight candles were lit in Glasgow Cathedral during a packed memorial service which also paid tribute to the rescue effort.
Reverend Laurence Whitley, who led the service, spent yesterday visiting the injured.
“All we found we could do was look at each other and shrug,” he said.
But he told the congregation: “We do not end this day in despair and losses.
“Our great and vibrant and irrepressible city shall stand together with our suffering ones and hand in hand go forward into the light.”
Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and police chief Stephen House were in the pews, along with ambulance workers in uniform.
At The Clutha, cranes could be seen working on the wreckage of the riverside bar in the middle of Scotland's biggest city. One rotor blade was lifted out of the debris.
“Work has begun to remove the helicopter from the site. This is a painstaking process which we expect to take some time,” Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick told reporters at the scene.
“This is a difficult and complex operation and great care and sensitivity is required.
“Work also continues to recover further bodies.”
She urged anyone with footage or information surrounding the incident to come forward as police try to piece together how the freak accident occurred.
'I love you with all my heart'
Three people on board the helicopter — two officers and a civilian pilot — and five people in the bar are so far known to have been killed.
The first victim whose body was recovered from the scene was named as Gary Arthur, 48, from the Paisley suburb of Glasgow. His daughter Chloe plays football for Scotland and Celtic under-19s.
“RIP dad. you'll always mean the world to me, I promise to do you proud, I love you with all my heart,” she tweeted.
A minute's silence will be held ahead of Sunday's Scottish Cup football match between hosts Hearts and league champions Celtic in Edinburgh.
Reports have also named helicopter pilot David Traill, 51, and police officer Kirsty Nelis as among the dead.
Some 32 people were taken away by ambulance.
Those still in hospital are suffering from “chest injuries, head injuries, long-bone fractures and lacerations”, said Jennifer Armstrong, medical director of the Greater Glasgow Health Board.
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond told BBC television that three were in intensive care.
Speaking of the unsearched area of the pub, beneath the helicopter, he said: “We have to prepare ourselves for the possibility that there could be further fatalities to come.”
The emergency teams want to recover as much of the helicopter as possible to work out what happened.
Police Scotland said the Eurocopter EC135 Type 2 passed precautionary safety checks in July 2012.
Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch has sent a team to the scene.
Newspapers speculated as to what might have triggered the crash, from a loss of power or fuel, to an attempted emergency landing on the one-storey bar's flat roof.
People inside said they heard a heavy thud and a brief pause before the roof caved in and the air filled with dust and screams. Most were not aware until later that a helicopter had crashed on to the building.
Pubgoers and passers-by formed a “human chain” to help the wounded in the minutes before the emergency services arrived. — AFP
