Firefighter saw girls plunge from Erskine bridge 'like divers going off a boat'

TWO girls who plunged from a bridge in an apparent suicide pact fell backwards arm in arm like "divers going off a boat", a fatal accident inquiry has heard.

Gary Cronin, a Ministry of Defence firefighter, was driving across the Erskine Bridge when he saw the pair sitting on the outer railing with their backs to the water.

He told the inquiry at Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday that they fell backwards in a "very controlled" manner.

Mr Cronin stopped his car and ran to look over the edge of the bridge but could see nothing as it was "pitch black". Niamh Lafferty, 15, and Georgia Rowe, 14, died after they fell more than 100ft on 4 October, 2009.

Mr Cronin told the inquiry: "I was travelling across the bridge and I said to my girlfriend 'Look at the beautiful view' and she looked to the right.

"I looked forward and I saw two figures arm in arm and instantly they just fell backwards in a very controlled manner. It reminded me of two divers going off a boat."

Asked whether there was anything to suggest it was not a deliberate action, he replied: "Not at all. It looked to me like two people in a very controlled manner decided to go off the bridge.

"I said to my other half 'Oh my God, two girls have just gone off the bridge'."

When he stopped the car, his partner, a nurse, rang emergency services and police took a statement from him later. They were sitting almost in the centre of the bridge on the western side, he said.

The inquiry continues.