1988 Lisburn van bombing
| 1988 Lisburn van bombing | |
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| Part of the Troubles | |
Wreckage of the soldiers' van after the explosion
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| Location | Market Place, Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Coordinates | 54°30′36.30″N 6°2′48.27″W / 54.5100833°N 6.0467417°WCoordinates: 54°30′36.30″N 6°2′48.27″W / 54.5100833°N 6.0467417°W |
| Date | 15 June 1988 20:59 (BST) |
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Attack type
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Bombing |
| Weapons | Booby-trap bomb |
| Deaths | 6 off-duty British soldiers |
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Non-fatal injuries
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11 civilians |
| Perpetrator | Provisional Irish Republican Army Belfast Brigade |
On 15 June 1988 an unmarked military van carrying six British Army soldiers was blown up by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) at Market Place in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The explosion took place at the end of a charity marathon run in which the soldiers had participated. All six soldiers were killed in the attack – four outright, one on his way to hospital and another later on in hospital.
Lisburn is the headquarters of the British Army in Northern Ireland. Four of the dead were from the Royal Corps of Signals regiment whilst the other two were from the Green Howards and Royal Army Ordnance Corps regiments respectively. A booby-trap bomb was hidden under the Ford Transit van in which the soldiers were travelling, and was designed in such a way that the blast went upwards to cause maximum damage to the vehicle. Eleven civilian bystanders were injured, including a two-year-old child and 80-year-old man.
The bombing is sometimes referred to as the Lisburn "Fun Run" bombing.
On Wednesday 15 June 1988 at 8:50pm, an unmarked blue Ford Transit van carrying six off-duty British soldiers in civilian clothes drove off from a leisure centre carpark in Lisburn. The soldiers had just taken part in the "Lisburn Fun Run", a 13-mile (21 km) charity half marathon held in the town. They had left the van unattended in the carpark, which was the start and finish point for the run. It was there that an IRA Active Service Unit (ASU), who had been following the van, hid a booby-trap bomb underneath the vehicle. The half marathon and shorter "fun runs" were organised by Lisburn Borough Council, together with the YMCA, to raise funds for the disabled. There were 4,500 participants that day and at least 200 British Army personnel had been given leave to participate in the event.
Nine minutes later, the van stopped at traffic lights at Market Place, in Lisburn's town centre. As the van moved on, the seven-pound (3.2 kg) booby-trap bomb detonated, turning the van into a massive fireball and instantly killing four of the soldiers as the vehicle disintegrated with the force of the blast. The Semtex device had been designed in a cone shape to channel the blast upwards, thereby causing maximum damage to the vehicle and the soldiers inside. The area around Market Place was crowded with onlookers, including many teenagers and families with young children, although the biggest crowd was at the carpark. In all, about 10,000 onlookers had attended the charity run. There was pandemonium as frightened parents searched for their children, whilst others rushed to give aid to the dead and dying soldiers before fire engines and ambulances arrived.
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