BBC Breakfast guest in tears during 'difficult' interview on Lockerbie tragedy

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

BBC Breakfast spoke to the sister of one of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing, with the emotional interview leaving viewers in tears as they said it was 'difficult' to watch
A guest on BBC Breakfast was moved to tears during Tuesday's show as she recounted the devastating effect of the Lockerbie disaster on her family.
In anticipation of a forthcoming documentary that features the stories of the families and friends of some of the victims of the bombing, it was revealed that her sister Olive was 25 when she purchased a last-minute ticket on Pan Am 103, intending to fly to New York for some Christmas shopping.
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On 21 December 1988, a bomb detonated in the plane's cargo hold, causing the Boeing 747 to disintegrate at 31,000ft. All 259 passengers and crew on board were killed, along with 11 people in Lockerbie who died when the plane crashed into their homes.
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Olive's body was among the first to be recovered, and her family has now spoken about how "hard" it was to come to terms with her death.
Her sister Donna joined Sally Nugent and Jon Kay on BBC Breakfast, expressing her ongoing distress years after the event.
Donna remembered the last time she waved goodbye to her sister before her flight, describing Olive as a "lively, vibrant and loud" woman.
"When she waved goodbye to me, I thought that was it, and I'd hear from her when she got back," Donna shared.
She recalled being instructed to meet her sister at a rendezvous point, assuming Olive would have missed her flight or decided against going.
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"What might have been if timings had worked out differently," Jon said.
Visibly moved, Donna recounted the emotional journey back to Lockerbie and shared, "What was amazing about it as well was when we got there, the people of Lockerbie, the dedication they had put into helping strangers that they don't know... the love and the care they put into even putting up a room full of collages and memories, there's so much that happened behind the scenes."
As she comforted her mother, Donna's daughter stressed the significance of documenting their story, noting "remembering the victims, because obviously there's a lot of other stories that come through in other documentaries but this one was simply focusing on Olive and other victims of the tragedy".
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Further explaining the documentary's purpose, she emphasised: "It's important that they're remembered because they were people, and they had stories and goals, and families who loved them."
The heart-wrenching interview eventually brought Donna to tears as she spoke of being told where her sister's body had been found, moving viewers to deem the segment "difficult" watching.
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Comments from affected viewers streamed in, with one asking: "Why are they putting this poor woman through this? She's clearly not ready to talk about this."
Another echoed the sentiment, labelling it a "difficult interview," while a third called it "sad".
One person said: "37 years on and she still can't talk about it."
BBC Breakfast airs weekdays starting at 6am on BBC One and iPlayer.