How many people died during Bloody Friday?
Bloody Friday (1972)
Bloody Friday is the name given to the bombings by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Belfast on 21 July 1972, during the Troubles. At least twenty bombs exploded in the space of eighty minutes, most within a half hour period. Most of them were car bombs and most targeted infrastructure, especially the transport network. Nine people were killed: five civilians, two British soldiers, a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) reservist, and an Ulster Defence Association (UDA) member, while 130 were injured. The IRA said it sent telephoned warnings at least thirty minutes before each explosion and claimed the security forces wilfully ignored some of the warnings for its own ends. The security forces denied this and said they were overstretched by the sheer number of bombs and bomb warnings, some of which were hoaxes.
Narrative of events of Bloody Sunday (1972)
At this point a large group of civilians sheltering behind the gable end of the Glanfada Park flats by the rubble barricade moved en masse through the south-east gap between the blocks of Glenfada Park North and into its central courtyard, heading for the south-west entrance leading to Abbey Park. Two of the paratroops – Soldiers "D" and "F" – at Kells Walk made their way into the courtyard via the north-east gap, closely followed by two more – "G" and "H". A number of civilians were shot, either in the courtyard or between it and Abbey Park, four of them fatally: James Wray (22), Gerald McKinney (35), Gerald Donaghy (17), and William McKinney (26). The bullet recovered from Donaghy – who did not die immediately – was traced to the rifle of "Soldier G". Wray was hit twice, the second time from close range while he was lying face down on the ground. The bullet which killed William McKinney may also have injured Joe Mahon, who survived. Widgery said the firing in Glenfada Park, "bordered on the reckless."