Glasgow crash: Edinburgh victim had flown home

Events co-ordinator Gillian Ewing had flown home to Edinburgh from Cyprus to spend Christmas with her family.

Gillian Ewing.

The 52-year-old mother-of-two spent much of her time in the resort city of Frenaros but was back in Edinburgh to share Christmas with her parents and daughters.

• Edinburgh medic tells of chaos at the scene

Neighbours said that one of her daughters, Lucy, 21, was with her when she was killed in George Square.

Friends said she and her sister Robyn, 25, who works in recruitment in Edinburgh, were “numb”.

A friend of Gillian’s dad Sandy, 84, and mum Muriel, 78, who live in Mortonhall, said: “Muriel told me she was looking forward to Christmas and having all the family together. Then I got a call this morning to tell me Gillian was dead. It’s so tragic.

“Sandy and Muriel are totally devastated and her daughters are totally numb. They are just young women who were looking forward to having their mum home for Christmas.”

A neighbour in the family’s quiet residential street in Mortonhall, who asked not to be named, paid tribute to the “nice quiet family”. She said: “Gillian was a very attractive lady. They were very nice, quiet girls.”

“Gillian was always very glamorous. I hadn’t seen her in years.

“She worked in hospitality. She planned weddings and high-class functions. I’ve been told that Lucy was there with her when the accident happened.”

Other victims of Monday’s crash include three members of the same Dumbarton family.

Childhood sweethearts Jack Sweeney, 68, wife Lorraine, 69, and their 18-year-old granddaughter, Erin McQuade– a student at Glasgow University – were on a Christmas family shopping trip when they died. Erin’s mother Jacqueline had nipped away to a cash machine when the accident happened.

Primary school teacher Stephenie Tait, 29, and tax officer Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, were also among the dead.

As the names were released, the Queen sent a message of condolence, saying: “Our thoughts and prayers go to the families of those who have lost loved ones and to those who have been injured.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the year had been “bookended by tragedy”, following the Clutha helicopter crash, but added: “Glasgow is a resilient city.”

Police Scotland have asked for anyone with photographs or mobile phone footage of the incident to contact them via a dedicated email address, [email protected]