Donegall Street bombing

1972 Donegall Street bombing
Part of the Troubles
One of the 148 people injured in the Provisional IRA car bomb explosion in Belfast city centre which killed seven men
Location	55-59 Lower Donegall Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date	20 March 1972 11:58 UTC
Attack type	car bombing
Deaths	7 (4 civilians, 2 RUC, 1 UDR)
Injured	148

The Donegall Street bombing took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 20 March 1972 when, just before noon, the Provisional IRA detonated a car bomb in Lower Donegall Street in the city centre when the street was crowded with shoppers, office workers, and many schoolchildren.

Seven people were killed in the explosion, including two members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), who said they had evacuated people to what was considered to have been a safe area following misleading telephone calls, which had originally placed the device in a nearby street. The Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade admitted responsibility for the bomb, which also injured 148 people, but claimed that the security forces had deliberately misrepresented the warnings in order to maximise the casualties. This was one of the first car bombs the IRA used in their armed campaign.