Memorial stone to rugby team killed in plane crash

A memorial stone has been unveiled in Bury St Edmunds as a tribute to 18 members of the town's rugby club who died in a plane crash more than 40 years ago.

They were on board a Turkish Airlines aircraft that came down in a forest near Paris shortly after taking off in March 1974. They had been in France for a rugby international.

Two years ago, dozens of cyclists from the Bury club took part in a memorial bike ride from Ermonville where the plane crashed, back to Suffolk.

"We set ourselves a target to raise £40,000 but instead we made £160,000," said Austin Cornish, whose father Laurie was one the victims.

The money was split between youth rugby in the Bury area and the local St Nicholas Hospice.

There is a memorial stone in Ermonville forest and now the club has been able to fund one in Bury.

"More than 40 years on, emotions are still quite raw because a lot families were affected but this will be a fitting memory to those who lost their lives," said Mr Cornish.