I READ the story in yesterday’s National about the Ibrox disaster (Fifty years on ... remembering the Ibrox disaster, December 22). It acknowledged that there were conflicting reports about how and when the disaster began. As one of a diminishing number of those that were there, and still have clear memories, let me tell the story from my experiences that day.
I went to Ibrox with a workmate, Charlie McKay. We travelled to the match by subway and went into the stadium by stairway 13. There was a big crowd already in the ground and we stood toward the top of the terracing near where we came in.
READ MORE: Ibrox disaster fifty years on: Remembering those that died in the catastrophe
We watched the match all the way through and heard the final whistle while still on the terracing. We immediately headed for the exit and went down stairway 13 without much difficulty – it was just as crowded as usual.
There was an old toilet block at the bottom of the stairs and we went in there before leaving the stadium. When we came out we went directly out of the open gates that were close by.
As we left, I’m sure there was a louder than usual amount of noise from the stairway, which was still full of people coming down, but we paid it no attention. I thought it was just celebration of the late goal.
We then went into one of the pubs not far from the ground and it was while we were in there that there was a first television report of the disaster that had unfolded after we left, or maybe as we walked out.
Our families knew we were at the match and in those days before mobile telephones or even phones in the house we felt it essential to get home and assure them we were safe.
Ever since that day the mistaken report of people turning back has popped up in references to the disaster. I have written this account more than once and yet these stories continue.
Dougie Blackwood
Helensburgh
HAVING just watched the end of Tuesday’s lunchtime news I was yet again perplexed that no mention was made in the tribute to NHS workers, and other essential services such as police and fire, of the sterling and now probably even more dangerous job of being a supermarket worker.
With Level 4 fast approaching, non-essential shops are bound by law to close. Supermarkets are, however, yet again open and have been throughout every lockdown. Supermarket workers, especially those on till duty, are exposed to the customers who don’t wear masks – the ones who spit or blow on their paper money before handing it over, to coughs and colds – all behind masks and flimsy plastic shields which are not really a cast-iron preventative against less dangerous bugs, let alone a killer virus which has now mutated and is 70% more transmittable.
READ MORE: Ikea, Dobbies and B&Q will need to close as Nicola Sturgeon changes essential shop definition
These workers are putting themselves on the line, as are the NHS. They are not directly saving lives but they are keeping us fed, and with many of the large stores giving opportunities for Christmas shopping. I also note many of the major supermarkets don’t recognise or give guidance for a one-way system – even more risky in narrow aisles.
So in the next few days before Christmas when the world goes mad – and again before Hogmanay – stop for a minute to think about supermarket workers who have, like the NHS workers, been under the cosh to stack, replenish, serve our food and other needs and often for very little reward in the pay packet at the end of weeks of busy and long shifts. Have some patience if you have to wait in a queue, and a “thank you” wouldn’t go amiss to the assistant.
F Milton
Aberdeenshire
I’D have expected much more from a teacher. Very disappointing comment from Allan Crosbie (Government has to stop gambling over Covid in schools, December 22). If anything, his piece could be a lesson on taking text out of context for personal purposes!
Having read the report (Report of record linkage study of Covid-19 among teachers, healthcare workers and other working-age adults), there are no “weasel words”, as he put it. The report is clear if you read it as a whole.
READ MORE: Keeping schools open through Covid is gambling with lives and must stop
Two quotes, apparently at odds with each other, from the report – “Across the whole period teachers were at lower risk of both hospitalisation with Covid-19, and of severe Covid-19” and “The results for the whole period show that the risk of becoming a Covid-19 case was higher among teachers than the general population.”
How can this be? Well, read on. Since schools have reopened, testing rates among teachers has been relatively high. Yes, that’s it. More teachers have been getting tested than the general population, and therefore the results show higher numbers of positive cases.
The report even goes on to highlight that when random ONS sampling was used (therefore giving an even distribution among the population), it “found no evidence of any difference in risk of testing positive among teachers, compared to other professions”. This is on the exact same page that Allan was selectively quoting from!
Kenneth Sutherland
Livingston
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