Top Deck

On a wet Thursday afternoon 50 Years ago, a row of shops in a Glasgow suburb exploded killing 22 people and injuring More Than 100, mostly women.

Fay McIntyre was on the Top Deck of a double-decker bus as it pulled up beside the shops on the main street in Clarkston.

She was looking out of The Window as she travelled Back To East Kilbride after a job interview in the City Centre .

Fay Says she remembers seeing two ladies sheltering from The Rain under the canopy of the shops, one dressed in a red raincoat.

Then, at 2. 52pm, there was a massive explosion.

The blast on 21 October 1971 was caused by a gas leak. It flattened 10 shops and the rooftop Car Park collapsed, sending vehicles plunging on to The Street below.

Fay's bus was buried in the debris.

She told the: " When I tried to stand up, my arm was trapped by a big slab of concrete that I think had come from the Car Park . "

The Bus Conductor came upstairs to free her and helped her off the bus.

" A lot of the rubble had come onto The Platform of the bus and I could see The Lady in red was under the rubble, " Fay Says .

She remembers seeing that the Car Park had folded in on itself, The Silence and The Smell of gas.

" A gas workman came beside us who was very badly cut in the back of his head, " Fay Says .

" I remember a lady from The Bank giving me a towel to put round his neck. "

Neil MacPherson's Older Sister Karen Fisher went to the shops That Day and never Came Home .

Neil was just 13 but his sister was 25 and had two young children.

He Says : " It was quite rainy in the afternoon. If that hadn't been the case she would probably have had her two sons with her, but she left them with a neighbour. "

Karen's was one of The Last bodies found.

" She was downstairs in The Shop and therefore at the very bottom of The Explosion site, " Neil Says .

About half the fatalities were unaccounted for overnight despite frantic attempts to free them that had begun before The Emergency services arrived.

Eyewitnesses recalled people digging in the rubble with their bare hands in a bid to reach those trapped.

A local mechanic told a News Reporter at The Time how he rescued Two People and so did his colleague.

Historian Norry Wilson Says : " There is absolutely horrific imagery of nurses clambering over the rubble while The Building is still smoking, along with police and fire service staff. "

The shops, on the main street in Clarkston, about Five Miles south of Glasgow City centre, were quite modern, having only been built Six Years earlier.

In The Days leading up to The Explosion , A Number of shop staff had complained about The Smell of gas and workers from The Gas Board were investigating.

Gordon Gibb's late father Dr William Gibb was given The Job of investigating What Happened .

Dr Gibb was a chemical engineer who had a reputation as an expert witness in cases of explosion.

His investigations found a big crack in a Cast Iron gas pipe about 3ft below the ground.

His son Says it cracked because there was not enough support under The Pipe so it moved when cars drove up and down The Road , causing stress and corrosion.

Gordon Gibb Says : " The Gas from the main percolated through The Soil and filled large cellars underneath the shops. "

A spark ignited The Gas at The North end of The Row of shops and The Flame went underground through all the shops until it reached a wall, where it blew back and exploded.

" Every one of The Eye witnesses said that they heard this whoosh or a rumble under the ground And Then The Explosion , " Says Gordon Gibb.

" The rumble was the ignition of gas at The North end of The Building And Then that flame speeding along underneath The Building towards The South . "

Four weeks after the blast, a fatal accident inquiry began in order to determine The Cause .

Neil MacPherson Says The Inquiry was " cut and dried" within four months of The Explosion .

" It would never happen today" he Says . " The Jury took two hours to conclude that no-one was At Fault .

" I think The Gas Board, as they were known then, had been At Fault because there had been a smell of gas in the area for the whole week.

" I don't believe The Gas Board took the appropriate precautions, even for 1971. "

Gordon Gibb Says : " I think My Father felt they had got away with it.

" Although he wasn't in The Role of seeking who was At Fault , he did feel that there was probably more of a case to answer than had been found. "

Thirty years after The Explosion , a small plaque was erected on the rebuilt shops by East Renfrewshire Council to mark The Spot .

But Neil MacPherson Says he still thinks it is a " forgotten disaster".

" I would like to see a more significant memorial in commemoration of The Victims , " he Says .

Source of news: bbc.com