Warrington bomb attacks
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| Warrington bomb attacks | |
|---|---|
| Location | Warrington, England |
| Date | 26 February 1993 and 20 March 1993 second attack occurred at 12:12 pm (UTC0) |
| Attack type | bombing |
| Deaths | 2 (both children) |
| Injured | 56[1] |
| Perpetrator(s) | Provisional Irish Republican Army |
The Warrington bomb attacks took place in Warrington, England in 1993. The first attack, on a gasworks, created a huge fireball but no fatalities, but a police officer was shot and injured after stopping a van connected to the attacks.[1] The second attack on Bridge Street killed two children and injured many other people. The attacks were conducted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).[2]
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[edit] First attack
The first attack took place on 26 February 1993. Three devices exploded at the gasworks causing extensive damage.[1] A police officer, PC Mark Toker, was shot and injured after stopping a van connected to the attacks, and a car was hijacked.[1][3]
[edit] Second attack
At 11:58am on (20 March 1993), the telephone help charity The Samaritans received a coded message that a bomb was going to be detonated outside the Boots shop in Liverpool, fifteen miles away from Warrington. Merseyside Police investigated, and also warned the Cheshire Constabulary (who patrolled Warrington) of the threat, but it was too late to evacuate. At 12:12pm two bombs exploded, one outside Boots on Bridge Street and one outside the Argos catalogue store. It later turned out that the bombs had been placed inside cast-iron litter bins, causing large amounts of shrapnel.
Buses were organised to ferry people away from the scene and 20 paramedics and crews from 17 ambulances were sent to deal with the aftermath.
Eyewitnesses of the time said that "the first explosion drove panicking shoppers into the path of the next blast just seconds later."
There were two fatalities from the blast. Three-year-old Johnathan Ball died at the scene, accompanied by his babysitter, who survived. The second victim, 12-year-old Tim Parry, died in hospital from his injuries five days later. 54 more people were injured, four of them seriously. [1]
[edit] In popular culture
In 1994 Irish rock band the Cranberries released the song 'Zombie' which was written as a protest to the bombings. The song went on to become one of their biggest hits.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Hansard - Terrorist Incidents
- ^ BBC:IRA campaign in England
- ^ http://archive.thisischeshire.co.uk/2000/5/18/222195.html Gas bombers may be freed
[edit] External links
- Memorial service in 2008 for the victims
- The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Trust
- Child killed in Warrington bomb attack — from the BBC News On This Day feature
- The Damien Walsh Memorial Lecture by Roy Greenslade, 4 August 1998 "Some time later, political analysts Paul Bew and Gordon Gillespie, commented that the Warrington bombing created 'a wave of revulsion throughout the British Isles against terrorist killings.' What they meant, of course, was that media coverage of the deaths created a wave of revulsion."
