Cyclists in US for Lockerbie memorial trip

The Scottish secretary and a group of charity cyclists will attend events in the US marking the 30th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing.

Pan Am flight 103 was on its way from London to New York when it exploded above Lockerbie on the evening of December 21 1988, killing 259 people on board and 11 on the ground.

Thirty-five of them were students at Syracuse University in the US travelling home for Christmas.

David Mundell will be in New York on October 30 and 31 for Syracuse University’s annual remembrance week and will also meet a group of Scottish cyclists covering the final leg of their 3,238-mile journey from Lockerbie to Syracuse to remember those who died.

Colin Dorrance, who was an 18-year-old off-duty police officer on the night of the bombing, is leading the group which includes David Whalley, leader of the RAF search and rescue team on the night and Brian Asher, the head teacher at Lockerbie Academy.

Mr Mundell will see the group off from Central Park in New York on Tuesday before meeting staff and students at Syracuse.

He said: “I was brought up in Lockerbie, and know how deeply the air disaster has impacted on the town. But I have also seen the very positive links which have grown between Lockerbie and Syracuse University over the years since.

“As we approach the 30th anniversary of the bombing, it is fitting that five local men are making the journey to Syracuse to remember those lost.”