The 1992 Manchester bombing was an attack by the
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...
(IRA) on Thursday, 3 December 1992. Two bombs exploded, wounding 64 people and damaging several buildings in the city of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
.
Bombing
The first bomb to explode was inside a car that was parked at Parsonage Gardens in the commercial district of the city. The car bomb was behind a
House of Fraser store () and exploded at 8:31 am,
injuring six people. The second bomb exploded on Cateaton Street between a market and
Manchester Cathedral
Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the c ...
() at 10:09 am,
wounding 58 people and damaging many buildings. The impact smashed the face of the cathedral clock and its
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
windows. The cathedral provided refuge to hundreds of people who moved out of
Deansgate.
Aftermath
A phone call was made after the bombings, claiming more devices were in the city, forcing the police to evacuate the entire city centre of shoppers and tell others to remain indoors. No other bombs were found.
The damage was estimated to have been to the value of £10 million (equivalent to about £19 million in 2017).
Perpetrators
The day after the bombing, the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for the act, which was part of their wider bombing campaign throughout the 1990s in England. Four years later, they detonated another, much more powerful,
bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
in Manchester.
See also
*
Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1992–1999)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manchester bombing, 1992
1992 in England
Car and truck bombings in 1992
1992 crimes in the United Kingdom
1990s in Manchester
Car and truck bombings in England
December 1992 in the United Kingdom
Provisional IRA bombings in England
Terrorist incidents in Manchester
Building bombings in England
1992 building bombings