THE FOURTH anniversary of the ICL Stockline disaster was marked yesterday at the memorial garden outside the factory where nine people died in one of Scotland's worst industrial accidents.

Families of the victims were joined by the local community as more than 100 people turned up at a short ceremony, at the site in Grovepark Street, Maryhill, Glasgow.

Members of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, officials from the STUC and representatives and congregation members from local churches showed their support for the families of the five men and four women who died.

At noon yesterday, exactly four years from the blast, the names were read out of the nine men and women who died on May 11, 2004, when a massive explosion caused the building to collapse.

Relatives laid wreaths and flowers for their loved ones at the standing stones erected in their memory. Personal tributes including jewellery and teddy bears adorned some of the stones.

Margaret Brownlie, Annette Doyle, Peter Ferguson, Thomas McAuley, Stewart McColl, Tracey McErlane, Kenneth Murray, Tim Smith and Ann Trench lost their lives in the explosion.

A public inquiry into the disaster will be held later this year at Maryhill Community Central Halls, which was a focal point for survivors, relatives and the emergency services during the tragedy. Relatives waited at the halls for news as the search for survivors and then bodies ensued in the days following the blast.

Lord Gill will preside over the inquiry, which will begin on July 2 and be held in two parts, to examine the circumstances surrounding the explosion.

Part two, commencing on October 14, will focus on lessons that can be learned from the disaster and make recommendations on how to avoid such a tragedy in future.

ICL Tech and ICL Plastics were last year fined £400,000 after they admitted breaches of health and safety law. A build-up of liquid petroleum gas led to the explosion at the factory.