The twin brother of an Angus man who died in the 9/11 terror attacks in New York has been killed in a hit and run cycling accident in Bahrain.
Triathlete Allan Sword was out for his regular Friday training run with friends when he was knocked off his bike and killed.
The driver of the vehicle failed to stop, but a man was later arrested and faces charges over the 48-year-old’s death.
The tragedy comes 19 years after Allan’s twin brother Derek was killed in the September 11 terror attacks on New York.
Derek was in World Trade Center Two when the building was struck by a hijacked jumbo jet. His body was never found.
Allan and Derek’s parents Irene and David Sword live in Monifieth.
Mrs Sword said the family, including elder brother Graeme, are struggling to come to terms with what had happened.
Covid restrictions have meant they have been able unable to travel to Bahrain to provide comfort and support to Allan’s devastated widow, Corinne.
“It really is hard to comprehend,” Mrs Sword said.
“It was 4am when Corinne phoned and said Allan had been in an accident and he had died.
“At that time it is difficult to take things in, but when I sit down I think ‘is this real, is this real?’”
Allan, who has two grown-up children from his first marriage – student Gregor, 19 and Halle, 18, had lived in the Gulf State for the past 13 years and carved out a successful career with Bank ABC.
He joined the group in 2007 and was appointed chief operating officer, group wholesale banking, in the summer of 2018.
Bank ABC group chief executive Dr Khaled Kawan paid emotional tribute to his friend and colleague in a video message to staff.
He said Allan was a trusted mentor, a hero and someone the bank turned to whenever there was “heavy lifting” required.
“The whole of Bank ABC and a great deal of the expat community in Bahrain today are in a deep grief and proud that Allan Sword was one of us.” Dr Kawan said.
“I would like to remember Allan as a man of content and character. He treated everyone with kindness, with respect.
“Sometimes he causes you to believe the job he was doing is easy, anyone of us could do it, although it was an extremely difficult and complex task.
“A capacity to love everyone, to extend dignity and respect to every one of his colleagues. “Sometimes, without ourselves, he would be there at night to reassure us, to reassure his colleagues and to lead the way ahead.”
Tributes were also paid to Mr Sword by the sporting community in the state, where he trained for and contested triathlons and Ironman events.
In an interview with The Daily Tribune in Bahrain, Dr Sheikh Saqr bin Salman Al Khalifa, chairman of the Bahrain Triathlon Club, said he would be sadly missed.
“The Bahraini sports community has lost one of its main pillars and founding members of triathlon here,” he said.
Mr Sword’s wife is now making arrangements to repatriate his body to the UK.
His mother said the family was being sustained by messages of condolence from friends and family around the world, including a personal tribute from His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of Bahrain made through Bank ABC.
“It is just so, so devastating, “ Mrs Sword said. “Nobody would believe that both Allan and Derek could be taken just like that.”
