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Glasgow lorry crash funerals to take place Glasgow lorry crash funerals take place
(about 2 hours later)
A funeral service is due to be held for three members of the same family killed in the Glasgow bin lorry crash. A funeral service for three members of the same family killed in the Glasgow bin lorry crash has heard how their loved ones have suffered “tragedy on tragedy and sadness on sadness”.
Mourners were gathering on Saturday at St Patrick’s RC Church in Dumbarton to remember Erin McQuade, 18 and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69, who all died when the out-of-control vehicle ploughed into pedestrians in Glasgow’s George Square three days before Christmas. About 1,000 mourners attended the requiem mass at St Patrick’s RC church in Dumbarton to pay their last respects to teenager Erin McQuade and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69.
McQuade’s mother Jacqueline is thought to have gone to withdraw money from a cash machine during a Christmas shopping trip when her daughter and parents, all from Dumbarton, were fatally injured. The three, all from Dumbarton, were on a Christmas shopping trip when an out-of-control vehicle ploughed into pedestrians in Glasgow city centre on 22 December.
Tributes will be paid to the teenager and her grandparents at a joint requiem mass at the church they all attended. McQuade’s mother Jacqueline is thought to have gone to withdraw money from a cash machine when her 18-year old daughter and parents were fatally injured.
Six people were killed and 10 injured after the lorry lost control in Queen Street and George Square on Monday 22 December. Erin’s brothers Liam, 15, and Aiden, 14, and sister Niamh, six, were all at the service with their mother and father Matthew.
Philip Tartaglia, the archbishop of Glasgow, will lead the private service, which will be followed by burials at Dumbarton cemetery. These will also be held in private. Glasgow city council’s leader, Gordon Matheson, the Scottish justice secretary, Michael Matheson, and the the Labour MSP for Dumbarton, Jackie Baillie, were also among the mourners.
Tartaglia previously told a memorial mass that he wept with the woman who saw her teenage daughter and both parents die almost in front of her. Six people were killed and 10 injured after the lorry crashed in Queen Street and George Square.
He will tell the congregation that the accident piled “tragedy on tragedy and sadness on sadness” for the family. The archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia, led the service. He previously told a memorial mass that he had wept with the woman who saw her teenage daughter and both parents die almost in front of her.
He will say: “Jack and Lorraine’s daughters, Jacqueline and Yvonne are also Erin’s heartbroken mum and sorrowing aunt. This is a family devastated by the tragic deaths all at once of three much-loved members. Tartaglia said: “Their last day on this earth said it all. Jack and Lorraine, Jacqueline and Erin went on a Christmas shopping trip. Three generations of the same loving family.
“They were struck down in front of Jacqueline’s eyes. A festive and happy Christmas shopping excursion to Glasgow had become the worst of nightmares. What happened was random, cruel and meaningless.” “They died as they lived - together. It is fitting that they should share the same funeral mass. They will be buried in the same grave.”
Tartaglia will say that the three “died as they lived - together” and will add: “It is fitting that they should share the same funeral mass. They will be buried in the same grave.” Tartaglia said: “They were struck down in front of Jacqueline’s eyes. A festive and happy Christmas shopping excursion to Glasgow had become the worst of nightmares. What happened was random, cruel and meaningless.”
He said the Sweeneys had been happily married for more than 45 years and described McQuade, a Glasgow University student, as a “light-hearted, caring, family-loving girl”.
“Just as her life was opening up and she was spreading her wings, cruel fate took her away,” he said.
Tartaglia described the crash as “a heartbreaking tragedy”.
He said: “Erin died in the tragic incident which took place at George Square in the centre of Glasgow on the afternoon of Monday 22 December 2014.
“To pile tragedy on tragedy, and sadness on sadness, Erin’s grandparents, Jack and Lorraine Sweeney, died in that same tragic incident.”
Primary teacher Stephenie Tait, 29, and tax worker Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, were also killed when the council lorry mounted the pavement before crashing into the side of the Millennium hotel.Primary teacher Stephenie Tait, 29, and tax worker Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, were also killed when the council lorry mounted the pavement before crashing into the side of the Millennium hotel.
Three patients remain in two Glasgow hospitals following the crash.Three patients remain in two Glasgow hospitals following the crash.
A 14-year-old girl and a 64-year-old woman are in stable conditions at the Royal Infirmary. A 57-year-old man - thought to be the driver - is in a stable condition at the Western Infirmary.A 14-year-old girl and a 64-year-old woman are in stable conditions at the Royal Infirmary. A 57-year-old man - thought to be the driver - is in a stable condition at the Western Infirmary.
Investigations into the crash are continuing.Investigations into the crash are continuing.