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1974 Tower of London bombing

Coordinates: 51°30′30″N 0°04′33″W / 51.50823°N 0.07595°W / 51.50823; -0.07595
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1974 Tower of London bombing
Part of the Troubles (suspected)
The White Tower
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Coordinates51°30′30″N 0°04′33″W / 51.50823°N 0.07595°W / 51.50823; -0.07595
Date17 July 1974
2:30 pm (UTC)
Attack type
Bombing
Deaths1
Injured41
PerpetratorProvisional IRA (suspected)

The 1974 Tower of London bombing happened on 17 July 1974 with the explosion of a 10–14-pound (4.5–6.4 kg) bomb in the White Tower of the Tower of London.[1] The blast left one person dead and injured 41 people, with many having lost limbs and suffering severe facial injuries. The victim who died was Dorothy Household. At the time the Tower was busy with tourists. A dozen of the injuries were children.[2] A scaffolding company working on the tower when the bomb detonated were able to act immediately to form the evacuation, ensuring the wounded were taken out of the building to safety and could gain urgent medical attention. The bomb was placed next to a wooden carriage of an 18th-century bronze cannon inside the Mortar Room. The gun carriage was destroyed.[3]

No group ever claimed responsibility for the attack, but it was widely believed the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was behind it. A month before the bomb, the IRA bombed the Houses of Parliament.[4][5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "TOWER OF LONDON (EXPLOSION) (Hansard, 17 July 1974)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Tower of London Bomb Kills1 [sic], Hurts 41". The New York Times. 18 July 1974.
  3. ^ Tucker, K; Lettin, A (1975). "The Tower of London bomb explosion". British Medical Journal. 3 (5978): 287–290. doi:10.1136/bmj.3.5978.287. PMC 1674219. PMID 1148778.
  4. ^ "1974: Bomb blast at the Tower of London". 17 July 1974 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  5. ^ "1974: 'We heard a muffled boom'". 17 July 1974 – via news.bbc.co.uk.