Syracuse University is marking the 35th anniversary Thursday of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 by honoring the 270 people, including 35 Syracuse students, who died in the air and on the ground.
Hendricks Chapel will hold a service at 2:03 p.m. where chaplains will lead prayers and reflections. That is the time of day that the plane exploded on Dec. 21, 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
The service is open only to family members of Flight 103 victims.
After the service, attendees will meet at the Wall of Remembrance in front of the Hall of Languages for a brief service where Dean of Hendricks Chapel Brian Konkol and others will speak. The outdoor service, which is expected to begin about 2:20 p.m., is open to the public.
Crouse College chimes will sound 35 times for each Syracuse University victim.
The service can be watched virtually so people from around the world, including Lockerbie, can participate, said Kelly Rodoski, the Lockerbie-Syracuse scholars liaison.
The 35 SU students were coming home from studying abroad. Their New York-bound flight from London was destroyed by a bomb packed into a suitcase.
The terrorist attack was traced back to Libyan authorities under the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
All 259 passengers aboard the Pan Am flight were killed, as were 11 people on the ground in the small village of Lockerbie.
One man — former Libyan intelligence official Abdel Baset al-Megrahi — was convicted of the bombing in the years after the attack, and a second Libyan suspect was acquitted of all charges. al-Megrahi was released from a Scottish prison in 2009 on humanitarian grounds after doctors predicted he only had months to live from prostate cancer. He ended up dying three years later at age 60.
A third man, Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi of Tunisia and Libya, was charged in 2020.
Watchdog/Public Affairs reporter Melissa Newcomb covers education, including Syracuse University and the city schools. For tips, contact her anytime at mnewcomb@syracuse.com, 315-679-1068, or @melissarnewcomb on Twitter.