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Heart attacks claims former industrial correspondent aged 74

AlexWattieA former industrial correspondent who worked for a wide range of media outlets in Scotland has died aged 74.

Alex Wattie, left, was found dead at his home in Glasgow last week. He is believed to have suffered a heart attack.

Alex began his newspaper career in his native Fife before going on to work for the Evening Times, the Scottish Daily Express, the Press Association and BBC Radio Scotland.

He later specialised as an industrial correspondent for The Scotsman and, in a second stint at the BBC, as Radio Scotland business correspondent.

Former colleagues said he would be remembered for his meticulous accuracy and the seriousness with which he approached the job.

His last job was in the PR department of North Ayrshire Council in Irvine.

Alex’s last appearance in print was in 2012 when he was interviewed by his old paper, the Evening Times, for the 40th anniversary of the Kilbirnie Street warehouse fire in Glasgow which he covered at the time.

He recalled: “I did not know until afterwards, but I had seen seven men die when the building collapsed.

“I think that it why the incident has remained so vividly with me over 40 years. It isn’t often that reporters witness something on this scale.

“I have seen a Russian Mig-29 jet crash at the Paris Air Show, in 1989, but that memory has not remained with me as much as Kilbirnie Street has.”

Alex leaves a son, Andrew, daughter Helen, and three grandchildren. His wife Joan died three years ago.

His funeral will be at Glasgow’s Linn Crematorium at 2pm on Thursday.