ONE woman died and 10 were rescued from Pettigrew and Stephens department store in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street in 1963 after a blaze broke out 15 minutes after closing time.

There were 12 employees left in the store, part of the House of Fraser group, who were trapped by the smoke and flames.

This woman was one of three lowered to the street in rescue slings, with others brought to safety by turntable ladder. Of the 10 who were rescued, five were taken to hospital along with a fireman who was injured.

Two workers were found collapsed on a stairwell by firemen who entered the building wearing breathing apparatus.

Hundreds of workers on their way home stopped to watch the drama unfold at the six-storey building at the junction of Sauchiehall Street and West Campbell Street.

Most of the damage occurred in the Sauchiehall Street section, where the roof collapsed. A spokesman for the firm said that about a fifth of the total floor space of the store was damaged.

It included departments dealing with household furnishings, dress materials and the linen hall where the blaze was thought to have started.