A UK retailer is under fire for selling a “Pan Am” Christmas sweater just before the 35th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing over Scotland.
The BBC reports Next, a clothing and home goods chain based in England, was selling holiday “jumpers” (the British word for sweaters) with the Pan Am airline logo and images of planes with blue and white snowflakes and other festive images. Criticism ensued, as next week marks 35 years since the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster that left 35 Syracuse University students dead in 1988.
“As a resident of the town at the time of the Lockerbie bombing, an event that has left an indelible mark on the lives of many hundreds of people, it is with this personal experience that I raise my voice against a product currently being sold by Next,” Phil Geddes wrote in a petition signed by more than 1,500 people. “This item, in its design or message, is offensive and disrespectful to those affected by this tragic event... The pain and trauma it caused are still felt today by countless individuals around the world.”
According to the Daily Mail, the product was available on Next’s website for £36 (approximately $45) but has since been removed. The company said the sweaters were being sold by a third party and apologized.
“In response to customer contact, Next removed the All+Every third-party branded items from its marketplace over the weekend,” the retail chain said in a statement Monday, according to The Telegraph. “We apologise for any upset caused.”
Pan Am Flight 103 exploded on Dec. 21, 1988, killing 270 people, including 35 SU students were studying abroad at the time and 11 Lockerbie residents who died when the plane crashed in the Scottish town. The plane was traveling from London to New York just before the Christmas holiday.
A Libyan intelligence official accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 was charged in 2021 and taken into U.S. custody last year. Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi has pleaded not guilty to his alleged role in the terrorist attack.