Location of the 1996 Manchester Bomb

The 1996 bombing of Manchester was a 3,300 pound (1,500kg) vehicle bomb detonated by the IRA (Provisional Irish Republican Army) on Corporation Street in centre of Manchester on the 15th June 1996. The bomb was targeted against Manchester's infrastructure and economy and it caused widespread damage. The area was evacuated and no one was killed, but many people were injured due to flying glass from the buildings. A total of 212 were injured. The IRA had sent telephoned messages warning that a bomb was placed in the centre of Manchester. About 60 minutes after the calls the bomb exploded. The bomb squad was unable to deactivate the bomb in time.

The bomb was inside a red and white Ford Cargo truck. CCTV footage show two hooded men park the truck on double yellow lines outside the Marks and Spencer store. A traffic warden was then seen putting a ticket on the truck and ordered it to be removed.

The whole area was rebuilt and finished in 1999 and it coasted £1.2 billion. Today Corporation Street is not a public road. Only certain vehicles like post lorries/vans, emergency and shop lorries/vans are allowed down the road.

There was a pillar box (red postbox) was the only structure to survive the bomb. The postbox was slightly damaged and was removed during the construction of the new centre. The postbox was then put back in its original spot this time with a small brass plaque on it.

Note: the bomb was the biggest bomb to explode on British ground in peace time (after WWII).

If you visit the Imperial War Museum in Manchester you can see a traffic light that was damaged by the bomb.

Link below is the CCTV footage of the bomb exploding:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_IuHA5DKGY