A witness to one of the most devastating loyalist bomb attacks in County Tyrone has described the aftermath as “a scene of complete chaos that I’ll never forget” as the 50th anniversary of the atrocity is marked.
Four civilians – including two teenage boys – were murdered when a no-warning bomb planted by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) exploded outside the Hillcrest Bar on Donaghmore Road in Dungannon on St Patrick’s Day, 17 March 1976.
The explosion occurred at around 8.20pm as the pub was busy with people marking the national holiday. A car containing the bomb had been parked outside the premises before the device detonated, sending debris across the street and shattering nearby buildings.
Joseph Kelly, 57, and Andrew Small, 62, were killed in the blast. Two 13-year-old boys also lost their lives. James McCaughey died at the scene while Patrick Barnard later died from injuries he sustained in the explosion.
The two boys had been walking near the vehicle when the bomb detonated. They had been on their way to a disco taking place at a school across the road from the pub when the attack occurred.
Almost 50 people were injured in the blast, nine of them seriously, as the explosion tore through the busy street and caused extensive damage to nearby buildings.
Witnesses who arrived at the scene described scenes of panic and devastation as members of the public attempted to help the injured while emergency services rushed to the area.
One man who helped in the immediate aftermath said the memory of the destruction has remained vivid for decades.
He recalled injured victims lying in the street and people desperately trying to assist those caught in the blast while police and ambulance crews worked to secure the area.
“It was a scene of complete chaos that I’ll never forget,” he said.
The Hillcrest Bar bombing became one of the most notorious loyalist attacks carried out in Northern Ireland/The North during the mid-1970s. The victims were civilians with no involvement in paramilitary activity.
A member of the UVF was later convicted in connection with the attack and received life sentences for the murders.
Fifty years after the bombing, the attack continues to be remembered by survivors and families of the victims, who say the loss and trauma caused by the explosion has never been forgotten in the Dungannon community.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yq724ev14o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
