Glasgow flats-plunge victims were parents and son - report
A charity today called for an inquiry into the deaths of three asylum seekers who plunged from a high-rise block of flats.
It is believed the three were a woman, man and their son.
Charity Positive Action in Housing said the three people who died were believed to be from the same family.
The charity said: “We understand that the three people who committed suicide at Red Road were Russian asylum seekers, a mother, father and son. We are still awaiting confirmation of further details of their identities.
“An immediate neighbour informed us that she observed them on Saturday evening a few hours before the suicide, a blonde-haired lady in her late thirties, and two males, looking quite serious, removing bags from the flat at 63 Petershill Drive, as if they were leaving.
“This case raises serious questions about the way the UK asylum system operates in this country. Members of the public have a right to know if we have a fair asylum system or one which terrorises vulnerable people to the point they would kill themselves.”
The bodies of the two men and woman were found at the bottom of a 31-storey block in Petershill Drive, Springburn, Glasgow, yesterday.
Their deaths are not being treated as suspicious.
It is believed the victims fell from the 15th floor of Block 63 at the Red Road flat complex, which were at one time the highest flats in Europe.
Many of the flats – which are earmarked for demolition – are occupied by asylum seekers and refugees.
In recent years some of the flats have housed people from Kosovo, Africa, Asia, the former Soviet Union, Iran and Iraq.
The building is owned by Glasgow Housing Association, which lets the majority of flats in it to the YMCA.
The victims' 51-year-old neighbour said they had lived there for two months but she did not know them.
Local resident Elaine Sandford, 40, said yesterday she believed the deceased faced deportation.
She said: “I think they had a letter through the door that said they were coming back for them. You only think you see these things on the telly. The same thing happened last year from another block but it wasn’t as bad as this.”
