Bloody Friday
Bloody Friday is the name given to the 21st of July, 1972, due to bombing by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in and around Belfast, Ireland on that day. 22 bombs were planted and, in the resulting explosions, 9 people were killed and a further 130 seriously injured.
The accounts of the events that appeared in the first editions of local and national newspapers were, naturally enough, somewhat confused about the details of the events of the day. The following details are based on a number of secondary reports and accounts. The timings referred to below are approximate.
Thirty years after the killings the IRA issued a statement of apology.
2:09 pm (Windsor Park, Belfast)
A bomb (estimated at 30 pounds of explosive) was detonated on the footbridge over the Dublin to Belfast railway line at Ulster Bank on the Limestone Road, north Belfast. The site of this bomb was a few hundred yards from the first bomb. This area had not been cleared. A local Catholic woman was caught in the blast and lost both legs. Motorists, in cars which were caught up in the traffic chaos, were also injured in the blast.
2:52 pm (Botanic Railway Station, Botanic Avenue, Belfast)
A car bomb (estimated at 50 pounds of explosive) exploded outside the railway station in Botanic Avenue. There was considerable damage to property but no serious injuries.
2:53 pm (Queen Elizabeth Bridge, Belfast)
A car bomb (estimated at 160 pounds of explosive) exploded without warning on the British Army.
