Sleepless and fed up in the SECC

Nervous flier Jamie McMahon's parents assured him the worst would not happen as they waited for their holiday flight to Majorca.

Sitting in cavernous Hall 3 of Glasgow's Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), Gordon and Jamie McMahon's well intentioned words came back to haunt them.

The family were one of many put up in

the conference centre overnight following Saturday's attack.

Jamie's mum said: "He's not very happy now about carrying on the holiday."

The McMahons from Perth were booked on a 1450 BST flight to Majorca, but it was delayed and they did not board until 1520 BST.

Mrs McMahon said: "The pilot came on and told us that a car had crashed into the terminal. At the time we thought it was an accident."

The passengers were stuck on the aircraft for two hours before they were allowed to disembark into pouring rain.

"For them [the children] it's been an adventure, then boredom, then adventure and then boredom again"
Alan King

The McMahons eventually arrived at the SECC at 0100 BST on Sunday and were still waiting to hear word from their holiday rep 10 hours later.

Mrs McMahon: "Jamie managed to sleep, but we haven't.

"We've thought about just going home, but this is our two week holiday."

Family called them on their mobiles to break the news that it had been a terrorist attack.

Running guards

Mr McMahon said: "It's unbelievable. You don't expect this kind of thing to happen in Scotland."

Across the hall, another family sat waiting for word of buses to take them and the other passengers back to Glasgow Airport.

Alan King and his partner Margaret-Ann McIlhone, from Old Kilpatrick, and their two children Cameron, seven, and four-year-old Molly were also booked on a flight to Majorca with Ms McIlhone's father, John.

The first sign of anything unusual was the sight of security guards running.

Mr King said: "We were just sitting at the bar when we saw four security men running. We just thought they were chasing a shoplifter.

"Then there was a smell of smoke. It was all happening 15 to 20 yards away from where we were."

He added: "We were all told to go outside and we stood there for 10 minutes, before we were put on a bus. We were on that for five hours because CID needed to take everyone's details."

Mr King said there had been no "outrageous" outbursts from people in the hall about the situation.

For their children, he said: "For them it's been an adventure, then boredom, then adventure and then boredom again."

However, Ms McIlhone echoed many others' thoughts on the attack.

She said: "It's frightening. Really, really frightening. I am feeling upset about what has happened."