AT the scene the disbelief was palpable.
By the following morning everyone had heard the testimony of people who had been inside the Clutha when the helicopter dropped from the sky.
We had all seen the footage of then-MP Jim Murphy, clearly in shock and with blood on his clothes, speak of helping people.
But it still wasn’t real. It wasn’t real standing on Stockwell Street, watching the emergency services - even seeing the helicopter being lifted from the scene days later.
All the major news networks were there, this was a major event.
Even Billy Connolly appeared to lay flowers at the scene.
A long time regular at the Clutha, he’d watched events unfold from a hotel room in New York but was moved to visit the site.
It was, he said, the first time he had done this but he felt it was important to pay tribute.
So surreal - but for the families, utterly real.
The loss felt by them was impossible to ignore.
Yet, they feel they have been largely ignored for the past five years.
Finally, an inquiry is to be held next month but there is no guarantee that this will give them the answers they need.
From some quarters there are worries that the truth of what happened that shocking night will never be known.
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