A BOOK of condolences has been opened by Glasgow City Council in honour of all those affected by the helicopter crash and their families.
The memorial ledger has been placed inside the City Chambers to allow members of the public to pay their personal respects to those who lost their lives in the accident on Friday night or to set down their thoughts on the tragedy that has rocked the city.
The book was officially opened during a sombre ceremony yesterday, attended by the City's Lord Provost Sadie Docherty, Council Leader George Matheson, Police Scotland's Chief Constable Stephen House and MSP Sandra White, whose constituency contains the site of the disaster.
Mrs Docherty said the past few days had been difficult for councillors and staff at the local authority as they came to terms with the scale of the tragedy.
She said: "The Book of Condolences is something that people can relate to. You can see the outpouring of grief that people in Glasgow feel as a result of this tragic accident on Friday.
"This an absolute tragedy that has hit the city. The scale of it is horrific. People left their work on Friday to go to the pub and the last thing on their minds would be that an accident like this could happen in the city.
"This book will help the people of Glasgow very much coming together. We saw that on Friday night with people helping out in the best way that they could."
She added: "It has been a difficult couple of days for staff at the council. But its been difficult for everyone in the city and beyond. If you look at the medical staff and the emergency services, what they have had to face has been unimaginable.
"But we have seen everyone pulling together in Glasgow, which is something that the city does extremely well in times of real difficulty, and it is one of those times that Glasgow is facing."
George Matheson paid tribute to the compassion and depth of humanity of his fellow Glaswegians in the wake of the crash.
He said: "All of the efforts of the council and the emergency services have been rightly focussed on the incident itself in terms of dealing with the building, recovering those lost and caring for the sick and those who have lost loved ones.
"But it is important for the city to express its sorrow and, along with the service today at the Cathedral, this is an opportunity for that. Once again, it has brought the city together.
"The book of Condolence is another opportunity to allow Glaswegians to express how they feel, and they can do so by writing their own words."
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