13 unarmed civil rights demonstrators shot dead by British soldiers on ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Londonderry, Northern Ireland 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 30 1972)


Video: 'Bloody Sunday 1972: The day's events explained'

(Sunday, January 30, 1972, 4:07 p.m. GMT; during Bloody Sunday (1972), part of The Troubles) — British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians today during a protest march against internment without trial in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, in what became known as Bloody Sunday or the Bogside Massacre.


Video: 'Channel 4 - Secret History - Bloody Sunday'

Fourteen people died: thirteen were killed outright, while the death of another man four months later was attributed to his injuries. At least 15 other protesters were injured — 12 from gunshots, two were run down by British Army vehicles, others from rubber bullets and flying debris.

Many of the victims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers, and some were shot while trying to help the wounded. All of those shot were Catholics.


Video: 'BBC News NI: What was Bloody Sunday?'

The march had been organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). The soldiers were from the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (“1 Para”), the same battalion implicated in the Ballymurphy massacre in August 1971.

Following a twelve-year investigation, the Saville Inquiry was made public in 2010 and concluded that the killings were “unjustified” and “unjustifiable.” It found that all of those shot were unarmed, that none were posing a serious threat, that no bombs were thrown and that soldiers “knowingly put forward false accounts” to justify their firing.


Video: 'Bloody Sunday - 30th January 1972'

On publication of the report, British Prime Minister David Cameron made a formal apology on behalf of the UK.

Following this, police began a murder investigation into the killings. One former soldier was charged with murder, but the case was dropped two years later when evidence was deemed inadmissible.