Memorial service to mark 40th anniversary of Air India disaster to take place in Cork today

Irish Independent

7 days ago

The memorial was erected at the closest point of land to the Air India Boeing 747 that was brought down off the west Cork coast when a bomb detonated on the Montreal-London-Delhi service shortly after 8am on June 23, 1985.
All 329 people on board died, including 82 children. The incident remains the worst aviation disaster in both Irish and Canadian history.
An annual memorial service is organised by Cork County Council on behalf of the families of those who lost their lives in the incident, and the local community, which has formed a strong bond with the relatives of victims in the four decades since the tragedy.
The event will begin with a minute silence before Christian and Hindu readings and the laying of wreaths at the memorial garden and sundial, which was sculpted by Cork man Ken Thompson in 1986.
Representatives from organisations who assisted with the search and recovery effort in the aftermath of the disaster such as the Naval Service, An Garda Siochána, the Coastguard and local fire services will also to participate in the memorial, which will take place at 8am this morning.
Memorial events will also be held across Canada in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver to mark the 40th anniversary, which has been recognised as the national day of remembrance for victims of terrorism by the Canadian Government.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson and relatives of those who died in the tragedy are also expected to attend a commemoration event taking place in New Delhi in India today.
Just one man was ever convicted in connection with the attack. Inderjit Singh Reyat served two decades in prison before his release in 2016.
In 2010, a Canadian Inquiry revealed that the disaster had been the result of a 'cascading series of errors', finding that key Canadian intelligence and security agencies had failed to share information with each other and act in a way that could have prevented the bombing.
That same year, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper apologised to the relatives of the victims for the government's failure to prevent the incident.