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Saturday, May 31, 2014

Info Post
By Lila Bryant


The small town of Lockerbie in Scotland witnessed the Pan Am flight 103 disaster which claimed the lives of 270 people. Inquiry into this disaster stretched to cover 20 countries. The final Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation findings indicated that a bomb was responsible for the death of 259 on board and the 11 who perished on the ground. Findings that a bomb was involved escalated the investigations to term it as a terrorist act.

The analysis revealed that the plan was traveling at 31,000 feet in the sky when it exploded. It was termed as a terrorist attack and the blame was laid on Libya. Investigations involved piecing together the debris in a warehouse in order to establish the cause and circumstances surrounding the crash. This became the worst plane disaster that involved terrorism and attracted world media to the small town.

Investigators spent years collecting evidence and piecing it together before concluding that Libyans were involved. The two suspects were Baset Abdel and Khalifa Al-Amin. The judge concluded that Khalifa was not culpable according to the evidence presented and therefore set him free. The government of Libya was ordered to pay a total of 2.7 billion dollars as compensation because the blame lay on Abdel Baset who was sentenced to death.

Investigations were led by UK Air Accident Investigation Branch. This is the body responsible for accidents within the UK air space. Over 4 million pieces of debris were gathered in the course of investigations. The debris was scattered over 2000 square kilometers. Computers were used in simulation and labeling of parts collected as evidence.

The crash took a criminal turn when it emerged that terrorism was the cause. Investigators found PETN and RDX chemical compounds at the scene. This was blamed for the Semtex explosion that caused the crush. A combined team of FBI, Scotland Yard and local police carried out the investigations. The bomb is suspected to have been boarded at Frankfurt.

American took keen interest in this inquiry because of fatalities suffered in the disaster. A total of 189 Americans died on board. This was said to be the worst disaster in American history involving the aviation industry. The next disasters to claim such a number of people was the 9/11 attack on Twin Towers. Testimonies were collected from 15,000 people with over 3,500 photos being presented as evidence. The exhibits totaled 180,000. The expenses for this inquiry surpassed any in history.

The cost of inquiry totaled more than 60 million dollars. 230 witnesses were called to testify over a trial that lasted a total of 89 days. Transcripts for the trail went beyond 10,000 pages. Authorities in Libya claimed that they were not involved in the said attack but were only used as excuses for political reasons. This brought to fore the theory that Palestine was involved instead.

The entry of Iran into the debate was linked to a conflict with America where 290 Iranians died in a crush attack by Americans along the Persian Gulf. Libya only accepted to make payments after sanctions were imposed at the UN level. This turn of events has killed the morale and made many to believe that the truth will never be known.




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