1996 Hammersmith Bridge bombing

1996 Hammersmith Bridge bomb
1996 Hammersmith Bridge bomb
Part of the Troubles
	Entrance to Hammersmith Bridge from the south bank
Location	Barnes, London, England
Date	24 April 1996 ; 22:54 (UTC)
Attack type	Attempted bombing
Deaths	0
Injured	0
Perpetrator	Provisional Irish Republican Army

On 24 April 1996, the Provisional IRA planted two powerful bombs underneath Hammersmith Bridge in west London.^[1] Although the detonators caused two small explosions, the bomb itself failed to explode. The bomb was located on the south side of the bridge and contained 30 lb of Semtex high explosives, which according to an explosives expert had the ability to blow up the entire bridge. The IRA gave two telephone warnings, the first at 22:22. Police located the device afterwards before it caused small explosions around 22:50. Scotland Yard said it was "meant to kill, cause injury and major structural damage to Hammersmith Bridge".^[2]^[3]

The bombing attempt came on the day that Sinn Féin announced its participation in Northern Ireland elections in May to the Northern Ireland Forum. It also occurred on the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.^[4]

Afterwards, the bridge was closed for three years for works. On 1 June 2000, the Real IRA, an IRA splinter group formed after the Good Friday Agreement, attempted to bomb the bridge again, but it did not cause significant damage.^[5] The bridge was also previously targeted by the IRA in 1939, under the S-Plan.