Jul 17 2008 by Shirley Bartynek, Hamilton Advertiser
THE 20th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster in the North Sea has been marked with memorial ceremonies both onshore and offshore.
Lanarkshire has also played its part in remembering those workers who died in what was the oil industry’s worst tragedy.
Recently, North Lanarkshire councillor and deputy provost Jim Robertson paid tribute to those who lost their lives in the disaster.
Flowers were laid by councillors and mourners at the Piper Alpha monument in Strathclyde Park.
A total of 167 men died on the North Sea oil platform on July 6, 1988. There were 61 survivors.
The tragedy was was caused when a gas leak on the platform ignited, engulfing it in a massive fireball.
Councillors and mourners are pictured above paying tribute at the Strathclyde Park monument.