On February 9, 1996, at about 19:01, the IRA detonated a half-tonne bomb in a small lorry about 80 yards from South Quay Station on the Docklands Light Railway, directly under the point where the tracks cross Marsh Wall. Due to a telephoned warning, nearby buildings and the road were evacuated. However, two men working in the newsagents shop directly opposite the explosion, Inam Bashir and John Jeffries, had not been evacuated in time and were killed. 39 people required hospital treatment due to blast injuries and falling glass. February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... A Republican mural in Belfast depicting the hunger strikes of 1981. ... A tonne or metric ton (symbol t), sometimes referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. ... A newsstand, known as a newsagents in countries using British English, is a small business that sells newspapers, magazines, snacks and often items of local interest such as postcards and clothing emblazoned with sports team mascots. ... Glass can be made transparent and flat, or into other shapes and colors as shown in this sphere from the Verrerie of Brehat in Brittany. ...

Approximately £85 million worth of damage was done by the blast. Three nearby buildings (the Midland Bank building, South Quay Plaza I and II) were severely damaged (the latter two requiring complete rebuilding whilst the former was beyond economic repair and was demolished). The station itself was extensively damaged, but both it and the bridge under which the bomb was exploded were reopened within weeks (on 22 April), the latter requiring only cosmetic repairs despite its proximity to the blast. The Midland Bank (now part of HSBC) opened as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birmingham, England in August 1836. ... Demolition of the Old Myer Building, Perth, Western Australia. ... A log bridge in the French Alps near Vallorcine. ... April 22 is the 112th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (113th in leap years). ...

This bomb represented the end to the IRA cease-fire during the Northern Ireland peace process at the time. A man named James McArdle was convicted of the bombing, and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement in June 2000. An armistice is the effective end of a war, when the warring parties agree to stop fighting. ... When discussing the history of Northern Ireland, the peace process is generally considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 IRA ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of The Troubles, the Belfast (or Good Friday) Agreement, and subsequent political developments. ... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 by the British and Irish Governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. ...

Sir Paul Condon described the attack as "a failure of humanity". The Right Honourable Paul Leslie Condon, Baron Condon, QPM, DL, is a retired British policeman. ...

External Links

• BBC Report on the bombing