Twenty years on, Piper Alpha victims remembered on land and offshore

IT TOOK almost 15 minutes simply to read out the names of the dead – the 167 men who were killed in the world's worst offshore catastrophe, 20 years ago.

Inside Aberdeen's "Mither Kirk" – the Church of St Nicholas – young children who were not yet born when their grandfathers died in the Piper Alpha disaster wept, comforted by their parents and grandmothers, as the roll of the dead was read out.

And for many of the survivors of the tragedy, the emotion of the remembrance service was clearly almost too much to bear as they wiped tears from their eyes.

Yesterday, as the 20th anniversary of the disaster was marked at every installation in the British sector of the North Sea, the focus of the day of remembrance was on the 167 individuals – fathers, sons, brothers – who perished.

The Rev Andrew Jolly, the chaplain to the oil industry, told the congregation of more than 1,000 who had packed into the city centre kirk for the memorial service that the victims of the inferno should never be allowed to become nameless statistics.

The people of Scotland should "hang our heads in shame" if the men who died in the "dark waters" of the North Sea on 6 July, 1988, were ever forgotten.

He said: "How easy it becomes for many to sum up this tragedy simply as a number – 167 dead. But how often, I wonder, have you wanted to shout out that this was so much more than 167 dead – these were real people with real aims, hopes, fears and beliefs, with families – people who loved, were loved and are still loved and will always be loved."

Mr Jolly continued: "It is hard to shed tears over a statistic. There must never be just numbers.

"There must always be names with faces, stories to tell of sacrifice and of love, of devotion and faith, so that what has gone on before does not become just another statistic.

"If we as a community, or as an oil and gas industry, or as a city, or as a country allow that to happen, then we should hang our heads in shame."

As they filed from the church, the families of the dead, along with the survivors, praised the decision to remember the victims as individuals.

Mike Jennings, who survived the disaster after plunging 150ft into the sea to escape the flames, said: "I was a lot more emotional at the service than I thought I was going to be. It doesn't get any easier."

It was a sentiment shared by Sheila Leggat, from Glasgow, whose husband, Findlay, 37, was a scaffolder on Piper Alpha.

Mrs Leggat, who had travelled with her son Findlay and daughters Liz and Deborah, said: "I can still remember the day of the disaster like it was only yesterday.

"But it is nice to know that, not just Findlay, but all the men are remembered because something good has got to come out of this because of the mistakes that were made."

She added: "I still miss him. I'd do anything – I'd sell my soul to get him back – but I know that's never going to happen. What you are left with are the memories."

Malcolm Webb, the chief executive of Oil and Gas UK, the industry trade body, was among the members of the public who attended the service.

He said: "We must never forget this terrible tragedy and it must be constantly in our memory.

"We must never classify the people who died as anything less than people – not numbers."

IN QUOTES

ALEX Salmond said yesterday that the lessons of the Piper Alpha disaster must never be forgotten.

The First Minister, who laid a wreath on behalf of the people of Scotland at the Piper Alpha memorial in Aberdeen's Hazlehead Park said: "The Piper Alpha disaster was an incident that is etched into the memory of everyone alive at the time.

"Out of the disaster came a new and better safety regime for the North Sea.

"I hope the commemoration of the 20th anniversary provides a reminder to everyone that in these hostile, dangerous waters, safety should always be paramount. If it does, there could be no more fitting memorial to those who so tragically lost their lives."