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Regional daily marks power station tragedy anniversary with special edition

A regional daily ran a special edition to mark the anniversary of a tragedy which killed four people.

The Oxford Mail dedicated five pages of Thursday’s edition to the collapse of a boiler house at Didcot power station, which happened on 23 February last year.

The Mail broke the story, which made national headlines, with reporters and photographers at the site within moments of the collapse.

The tragedy was covered extensively on the day with a live blog and several pages in the following day’s edition, as well as continuing coverage in the days that followed.

OXford Didcot 1

It wasn’t until last September that the body of the final remaining missing worker was recovered from the wreckage, and relatives of the men killed told the Oxford Mail their “lives were changed forever” after that day.

Mail reporter Georgina Campbell interviewed emergency services workers who were first on the site and the paper organised aerial pictures of the site as it is today showing how much rubble has been cleared.

She said: “The impact of the tragedy is felt now more than ever. Of course the emergency workers were doing their job but they weren’t over and above to do what they could for the families of the missing men. That day will be etched on the memory of many.”

The investigation into the cause of the collapse continues with more than 60,000 images collected as evidence.

Mail managing editor Sara Taylor said: “The response by the community in rallying round to support the families and all those affected by the tragedy has been incredible.

“It was a disaster on a huge scale and has left a lasting impact on Oxfordshire and further afield. We wanted to reflect that in our special edition as well as giving our readers an update on the investigation.”