Fans of the late and great folk singer Kirsty MacColl are remembering the star on the 23rd anniversary of her tragic death today (18 December).

It is even more poignant this year following the recent death of her legendary duet partner Shane MacGowan, who helped her top the charts with The Pogues’ best known song, ‘Fairytale of New York‘.

The iconic Christmas track is responsible for introducing a lot of us to MacColl’s incredible talent, but she had already managed to forge her own path to stardom throughout the 1980s before crooning alongside MacGowan.

She lent her singing talents to the likes of The Smiths and Simple Minds with backing vocals, while her debut single They Don’t Know peaked at number two on the charts after its release in 1979.

The Croydon-born singer went on to churn out other hits such as There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis and a cover of Billy Bragg’s A New England, earning her a legion of loyal fans.

But her big break finally came in 1987 following the release of The Pogues Christmas anthem Fairytale of New York, thrusting her into the mainstream spotlight.

MacGowan, who sadly died on 30 November, previously said of his duet partner: “Kirsty knew exactly the right measure of viciousness and femininity and romance. In operas, if you have a double aria, it’s what the woman does that really matters. The man lies, the woman tells the truth.”

Tim Roney/Getty Images

He said he was ‘madly in love’ with MacColl since the first time he saw her perform on Top Of The Pops, dubbing her a ‘genius in her own right’ who ‘made Fairytale of New York her own’.

Fans touchingly said they hope the pair are belting it out up above over the festive period, as MacGowan previously revealed listening to their smash hit used to ‘depress him’ following his duet partner’s death.

The music world was rocked on 18 December, 2000, when news broke that MacColl’s life had tragically been cut short.

READ MORE:

SHANE MACGOWAN’S RESPONSE TO ‘HOMOPHOBIC’ LYRICS IN FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK

JOHNNY DEPP GIVES SPEECH AT FUNERAL OF SHANE MACGOWAN

Although your mum tells you the story of what happened to the singer every Christmas when Fairytale of New York comes on the radio, here’s a reminder.

The mum-of-two had been recording a programme in Cuba when she decided to take a trip to Cozumel, Mexico, with her boyfriend James Knight and her two sons Louis, then 13, and Jamie, who was age 15.

Ian Dickson/Redferns

She went diving with her boys in the Chankanaab reef on 18 December, 2000, which was a designated diving area where watercraft were restricted from entering – but a powerboat did not abide by the rules.

As they resurfaced from their underwater excursion, the vessel ploughed through the restricted zone at high speed.

MacColl managed to spot the boat terrifyingly veering right for them and bravely pushed Jamie out of its path as it careered towards him – saving his life.

However, she was sadly struck by the powerboat and suffered fatal head and chest injuries which killed her on impact.

MacColl’s body was later repatriated to the UK and she was cremated following a funeral service at Mortlake Crematorium in Kew on 20 January, 2001.

The powerboat’s owner was Carlos González Nova, founder of the Comercial Mexicana supermarket chain and the brother of the chain’s multimillionaire president, Guillermo González Nova.

An employee of Guillermo, José Cen Yam, said he was driving the boat at the time and he was later found guilty of culpable homicide, seeing him sentenced to two years and ten months in prison.

Hayley Madden/Redferns

But he didn’t end up getting put behind bars and instead paid a £61 fine to dodge jail time, which prompted MacColl’s family to launch the Justice For Kirsty campaign calling for a judicial review amid the lack of cooperation from the Mexican government.

Now, 23 years on from the singer’s death, fans are remembering MacColl and are paying tribute on social media.

One said: “Remembering the beautifully talented Kirsty MacColl who tragically died 23 years ago today in Cozumel, Mexico at the age of 41. RIP.”

While another wrote: “Today marks the 23rd anniversary of Kirsty MacColl’s death, all the more poignant this year given Shane MacGowan’s recent death. One of the greatest Xmas songs ever.”

And a third added: “This was the saddest news. Horrific accident and a beautiful talent ripped from her family and from us. May Kirsty MacColl and Shane Mcgowan be singing with and above all Angels.”

The devastating final words of a young woman who died on a flight last month have been revealed as a witness admitted the tragedy will be ‘etched’ in his ‘memory for life’.

On 20 June, 24-year-old student Manpreet Kaur boarded a Qantas flight from Melbourne, Australia to Delhi, India.

However, she tragically passed away before the aircraft took off.

Manpreet had moved to Australia in 2020 to chase her dreams of becoming a chef.

In the week prior to her death, the culinary student had been feeling unwell. Her cousin and roommate, Kuldeep Kaur, said she’d had ‘difficult talking’ and ‘no energy to do anything.’

She said Manpreet was travelling home to Dharampura, India so her family could look after her.

But when got on the plane, she reportedly struggled to put her seatbelt on, then ‘fell in front of her seat and died on the spot.’

Manpreet Kaur had been travelling home to India when she passed away (GoFundMe)

Kuldeep said she ‘couldn’t believe it’ when police told her that she’d passed away.

She shared her cousin’s final words to her with the Daily Mail Australia.

“I drove her to the airport that morning and she said, ‘I will come back’,” Kuldeep said.

A passenger sitting next to Manpreet has since shared further details about the tragedy.

Ravinder Singh told News.com.au that when he took his seat next to Manpreet, he noticed ‘she began scrolling through photos on her mobile phone and stopped at a photograph of an elderly couple.’

“I asked if they were her parents. She smiled and nodded and kept staring at it,” he said.

However, when the plane was preparing for takeoff, Ravinder realised that something was wrong.

Manpreet had put her phone down and had ‘leaned forward to rest her head on the seat in front.’

Her cousin has since revealed Manpreet’s final words before she boarded the Qantas flight (WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

He tried to tell her to ‘sit upright’ for takeoff and when the plane ‘jerked’ and she didn’t wake up, he called for help from cabin crew. She was later evacuated from the plane.

Ravinder says the devastating incident will be ‘etched’ in his ‘memory for life.’

A post-mortem confirmed that Manpreet had been suffering from tuberculosis. This led authorities to rule that her body could not be transported out of Australia.

Her family have been forced to apply for visas to fly to the country to attend her funeral.

Manpreet’s friend, Gurdip Grewal has has since started a GoFundMe to raise money for her family.

The page reads: “Our dear friend Manpreet left us too soon, leaving a void in our lives that can never be filled.

“As we grieve her passing, we want to come together to honor her memory and support her family in their time of need.

“As we say our final goodbyes, every contribution, big or small, brings us closer to our goal. Your support means the world to us and Manpreet’s family.”

A Qantas spokesperson told news.com.au that the airline’s ‘thoughts are with [Manpreet’s] family and loved ones.’

An American tourist is feared to have been eaten by a shark while on holiday in Indonesia.

68-year-old Colleen Monfore travelled with six friends to the Pacific nation’s Pulau Reong island on 26 September for a diving holiday.

However, the South Dakota woman was dragged away by strong currents and neither her group nor her guide were able to pull her back on board the boat.

Rescue teams were sent out to try and find the 68-year-old but were called off on 3 October after eight days of searching as conditions at sea were dangerous and it as decided that there would be a low chance of finding her.

Sadly, Colleen is suspected to have been eaten by a shark after a fisherman from the neighbouring country of East Timor caught a shark on 6 October and found human remains in its belly.

The 68-year-old tourist is feared dead after she was swept away while swimming. (Asia Pacific Press via Viral Press)

The fisherman who caught the shark said: “The shark was caught but it was not in normal health. I thought it had swallowed plastic or a fishing net.

“It was cut open to find the problem and inside there were the remains of a woman.”

East Timor officials are in contact with the Indonesian coast guard and are asking for anyone who has details about people who went missing in the nearby seas.

Muhammad Saleh Goro, Head of the Regional Technical Implementation Unit (UPTD) for the Management of the Alor Islands Marine Park and surrounding ocean, said: “We have coordinated with the Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) in Dili, and the KBRI has confirmed the truth of this information.

“The body of the woman was found in a shark in Timor Leste. It was not in Indonesian territory.

“We are now investigating the case further to confirm if they are the remains of anyone reported missing in Indonesia.”

A fisherman caught a shark and found human remains inside it, leading to fears that it ate the 68-year-old. (Asia Pacific Press via Viral Press)

They confirmed that the human remains found in the shark had been wearing a diving suit and that more information would be released as they learned it during their investigation.

Officials said: “The anecdotal reports from Timor Leste are that the victim in the shark was foreign female.”

The identity of the victim inside the shark that was caught has not yet been confirmed.

Colleen Monfore was first reported missing by her friends, who also carried out the initial search efforts to find her.

Ipda Giovani BM Toffy, the chief of police in Southwest Maluku, said: ” We coordinated with the Nabar Village Government to mobilise residents to help search the coast facing Reong Island and conduct searches around the waters of Reong Island using long boats or speed boats, but the victim has not been found.”

On 1 April, 2014 two women set out on a hike in Panama and never returned. Ever since then, investigators have been left baffled as to what happened to them.

Dutch women Kris Kremers, 21, and Lisanne Froon, 22, had travelled to Panama with the aim of volunteering at a school and spending time abroad.

The pair had set off on 1 April a decade ago to try and hike the ‘El Pianista’ trail in Panama but they never returned.

A huge search operation was launched to try and find the two women, but it was ultimately unsuccessful.

New evidence

Two months later, a backpack belonging to Froon was discovered by a riverbank, and inside it contained money, water, two phones and a camera.

The devices helped provide clues as to the movements of the women and what they did in the days following their disappearance.

Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon went hiking in Panama in 2014 and never returned. (YouTube)

Looking at the phones, officials determined that about six hours into the hike both women had attempted to call the emergency services but been unable to do so due to lack of signal.

They’d dialled both Panama’s emergency services number and an international number to try and get help.

Investigators determined that the phone belonging to Froon, a Samsung Galaxy SIII, ran out of battery on 6 April and wasn’t switched on again, while an iPhone 4 belonging to Kremers was periodically switched on between 5 April and 11 April, though the device’s PIN number was never correctly entered to unlock it.

Whether that means someone who didn’t know the code was trying to get into the phone or whether it was just being switched on to check the signal is not known, and Kremers’ phone was switched off for the last time on 11 April.

Studying the camera, there were a number of photos of the women’s belongings laid out on a rock as well as pictures of the back of Kremers’ head.

A camera with photos on it included pictures of their belongings laid out on a rock (TVN2)

There were also a series of pictures taken between 1am and 4am on the morning of 8 April, with flash photography illuminating the darkness of the early morning.

Once the backpack was found it prompted fresh search efforts, which turned up human remains including a pelvic bone and a boot with a foot inside.

The search also found some clothes belonging to Kremers, neatly folded and placed upon a rock.

DNA testing confirmed that the remains belonged to the two women, but lacking the rest of their bodies no official cause of death has been given.

Accident or murder?

What exactly happened to them when they went missing is a mystery we might never solve.

While some suggested the women’s death had to be accidental, others conjectured it could even have been murder.

After reviewing police files, Dutch authors Marja West and Jürgen Snoeren said in their 2021 book Lost in the Jungle that they think they know what happened.

They told the Daily Beast: “It actually came as a surprise to us too, but our conclusion had to be that it was an accident. It took us quite some time to get there.”

They concluded flash floods typical in the region ‘made staging scenes or strategically placing items impossible’ for any potential killer.