A service was held at St George's Tron Church in Glasgow today to pray for the victims and families of those involved in a lorry crash in the city centre yesterday.
Six people died and ten were injured when a bin lorry crashed into pedestrians in George Square amid the Christmas shopping rush at about 2.30pm on Monday.
Jack and Lorraine Sweeney, were with their 18-year-old granddaughter Erin McQuade when they were all killed in the crash. The others who died were Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow.
Rev Alister Duncan prayed at the service: "We come, Lord, as those who in some measure are touched and affected because we feel for the pain of others in this city, because we understand something of the burden carried in the hearts by those who've lost loved ones, who are concerned for those in hospital," the Guardian reports.
The church, which is close to the scene of the crash, was open during the day with a book of condolence.
Archbishop of Glasgow Philip Tartaglia called for prayers for those killed and their relatives in the "tragic" accident. On Wednesday he will say mass for the victims at St Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow.
Describing the incident yeserday, police said: "A Glasgow City Council bin lorry was travelling north on Queen Street when it appeared to strike pedestrians outside the Gallery of Modern Art before continuing to travel towards George Square, when it crashed at the Millennium Hotel on Queen Street at George Square."
Two witnesses said the truck driver had been slumped over the steering wheel as it ploughed down the street, Reuters reports.
The driver was among those receiving treatment in hospital, a police spokesman said.
Archbishop Tartaglia said: "I was shocked and horrified to hear the news of this incident. My heart breaks for all those who have been directly caught up in it as they go about their business just a few days before Christmas in the centre of Glasgow. The circumstances could hardly be more tragic. I would ask any person of faith to pray for those who have died and their relatives and those who have been injured."
This is the second time in two years that Glasgow has been hit by tragedy just before Christmas. On 29 November last year a police helicopter crashed into the roof a packed Glasgow pub, killing ten people.
"The news from the city centre of Glasgow just a few days before Christmas is simply devastating," the Right Rev John Chalmers, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said. "For the second year in a row Glaswegians will have to dig deep into their reserves of compassion and sympathy as they support the families of those who have been killed and injured today."
"I am sure that in these circumstances the churches and faith communities of Glasgow would do all that they could to bring support and comfort to those caught up in this tragedy and that all round Scotland and beyond; Glasgow would be remembered in the prayers of the people," Chalmers said.
Fred Drummond, director of the Evangelical Alliance in Scotland said in a statement: "As we come to Christmas we look to a God who has not remained distant or sanitised from suffering. Rather we trust in God, who in Jesus Christ drew near to pain and sorrow and was acquainted with grief. The one who wept over Jerusalem is now weeping with the people of Glasgow and reminds us that in despair, hope and light can penetrate the deepest darkness."
The police are investigating the incident, but said there did not appear to be anything "sinister" about the crash, dismissing the idea that it might have been a planned attack.
