Explosion
The bomb exploded as a parade of UDR soldiers was making its way to the memorial. It blew out the wall of the Reading Rooms—where many of the victims were standing—and hurled masonry towards the gathered crowd, many of whom were standing nearby.
Eleven people were killed: ten civilians, Bertha Armstrong, Wesley Armstrong, Samuel Gault, Nessie Johnston, Kitchener Johnston, John Megaw, Nessie Mullan, William Mullan, Alberta Quinton, Marie Wilson and one Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer, Edward Armstrong. Gordon Wilson, whose daughter Marie Wilson died in the blast and who was himself injured in the explosion, went on to become a peace campaigner and member of Seanad Éireann. The twelfth fatality, Ronnie Hill, died after spending 13 years in a coma. Sixty-three people were injured. Ulster Unionist politicians Sammy Foster and Jim Dixon were among the crowd; the latter received extensive head injuries but recovered. A local businessman captured the immediate aftermath of the bombing on video camera. His footage, showing the effects of the bombing, was broadcast on international television. All the victims were Protestant.
A few hours after the blast, the IRA called a radio station and said it had abandoned a 150 pounds (68 kg) bomb in Tullyhommon, 20 miles (32 km) away, after it failed to detonate. That morning, a Remembrance Sunday parade (which included many members of the Boys' and Girls' Brigades) had unwittingly gathered near the Tullyhommon bomb. Soldiers and RUC officers had also been there, and the IRA said it triggered the bomb when soldiers were standing beside it. It was defused by security forces and was found to have a command wire leading to a 'firing point' across the border.
Read more about this topic: Remembrance Day Bombing
Famous quotes containing the word explosion:
“Moderation has never yet engineered an explosion ....”
—Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945)
“Frau Stöhr ... began to talk about how fascinating it was to cough.... Sneezing was much the same thing. You kept on wanting to sneeze until you simply couldn’t stand it any longer; you looked as if you were tipsy; you drew a couple of breaths, then out it came, and you forgot everything else in the bliss of the sensation. Sometimes the explosion repeated itself two or three times. That was the sort of pleasure life gave you free of charge.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)