IRA truck bomb devastated City of London 25 years ago

Today marks 25 years since one of the most damaging terror attacks in UK history.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Apr 2018, 19:42 GMT
Updated 23rd Apr 2018, 19:46 GMT
The devastation of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and the crater left in Bishopsgate (left, foreground) in London after the massive IRA bomb blastThe devastation of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and the crater left in Bishopsgate (left, foreground) in London after the massive IRA bomb blast
The devastation of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and the crater left in Bishopsgate (left, foreground) in London after the massive IRA bomb blast

On April 24, 1993, an IRA truck bomb exploded at Bishopsgate in London, claiming one life, injuring 44 people and causing what was estimated in press reports at the time to have been £1 billion worth of damage.

The explosion devastated the heart of the City of London, causing shards of glass to come raining down from the high rise buildings. A medieval church, St Ethelburga’s, and the Liverpool Street underground station were destroyed in the blast.

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The IRA had filled an Iveco truck with an estimated one tonne of ammonium nitrate explosive and parked it in the heart of the financial district.

THE CRATER LEFT IN BISHOPSGATE , IN THE CITY OF LONDON, AFTER BOMB CONCEALED IN TIPPER TRUCK WENT OFF IN THE CITY.THE CRATER LEFT IN BISHOPSGATE , IN THE CITY OF LONDON, AFTER BOMB CONCEALED IN TIPPER TRUCK WENT OFF IN THE CITY.
THE CRATER LEFT IN BISHOPSGATE , IN THE CITY OF LONDON, AFTER BOMB CONCEALED IN TIPPER TRUCK WENT OFF IN THE CITY.

While a coded warning had been telephoned to police, the lorry exploded while people were still being evacuated from the area.

The deceased was Edward Henty, a freelance photographer who had been working for the now defunct News of the World. He was married with two children.

The victim support group South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) said: “Edward Henty and the Bishopsgate bombing are remembered on SEFF’s Memorial Quilt – Terrorism Knows NO Borders. SEFF’s thoughts and prayers are with the Henty family, his friends and former colleagues and all those injured as a consequence of the terrorist outrage.”

No-one was ever convicted for the bombing.

Related topics:IRABishopsgateLondon