Relatives of Scots victim tell of grief
THE devastated family of a Scot killed on Flight MH17 spoke last night for the first time of their grief.
Stephen Anderson was one of ten Britons on board the Malaysian Airlines jet. Mr Anderson, father of a 21-year-old daughter Jordan, had been on his way back to his wife, Joanna, in Malaysia, following a work trip to South Africa.
Last night, his grieving siblings in Scotland told how their 44-year-old brother was always smiling and would be ‘sorely missed’.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Lorraine, 45, and Kevin, 38, said: ‘Stephen would do anything for you. He was a great husband, father, son, brother and uncle.
‘He was a bundle of laughs – every time you saw him, he always had a smile for you.’
Mr Anderson and his 37-year-old wife, who is from New Elgin, Moray, had been together for 15 years and enjoyed last Christmas at home with family in Inverness.
A technician for offshore oil company Maersk Drilling, he had been employed on a month-on, month-off rota and was making his way back to Mrs Anderson in Penang, Malaysia, where the pair had been living since 2010.
Details surrounding the Scot’s identity only emerged late on Friday night when the name Sandy Leslie Anderson featured on a passenger manifest released to a Dutch news website.
As First Minister Alex Salmond yesterday confirmed one Scot had died, he stressed an international investigation must take place. He said: ‘As we prepare to welcome the Commonwealth Games to Scotland, we should note around a third of the 298 victims came from Commonwealth nations.
‘On behalf of the Scottish Government and the people of Scotland, I extend my condolences.’