On this day: October 21

1971
A distressed woman is helped from the scene at Clarkston Toll in Glasgow.A distressed woman is helped from the scene at Clarkston Toll in Glasgow.
A distressed woman is helped from the scene at Clarkston Toll in Glasgow.

This day in 1971 saw a huge gas explosion in Glasgow.

Just before 3pm, the explosion, the equivalent of a 1,000lb bomb, ripped through the shopping precinct at Clarkston Toll on the city’s south side - reducing a row of shops to rubble, killing 22 people.

110 others were injured.

A section of the road at Clarkston Toll in Glasgow, after a faulty gas main exploded killing 22 shoppers and injuring hundreds in October 1971.A section of the road at Clarkston Toll in Glasgow, after a faulty gas main exploded killing 22 shoppers and injuring hundreds in October 1971.
A section of the road at Clarkston Toll in Glasgow, after a faulty gas main exploded killing 22 shoppers and injuring hundreds in October 1971.

A strong smell of gas had been reported the day before and repair work had been carried out but the cause of the Clarkston disaster was never found.

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The official inquiry lasted just 19 days and laid the blame on no-one.

As the majority of the victims were women, out shopping for their families, rather than working men, the compensation paid was minimal.

It would take over 30 years before a memorial was erected at Clarkston Toll.

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