Booby trap bomb

A SMALL wooden box filled with gelignite and nails was left as a booby trap for police or military at the scene of a double explosion on the railway line between Lurgan and Portadown in October 1970.

By The Newsroom

Published 14th Oct 2010, 11:11 BST

Updated 17th Oct 2010, 16:51 BST

The explosions which caused slight damage to both tracks came only 12 hours after the governor of Northern Ireland had travelled by rail from Portadown following the opening of the new station there.

Heard over a wide area, the explosions (about 20lbs of gelignite was used) occurred at about 4.30am, and the police were soon on the scene.

A policeman who visited the scene said: “This was an act of sabotage with the added implication that whoever touched the box would be blown to Kingdom Come.”

A railway worker said: “It was a beastly device. Those who did it are a crowd of animals.”

A suggestion that the explosions had been mis-timed and that they were in fact intended to go off before the Governor’s train passed over the line the previous day, was discounted by the police.

Portadown Northern Ireland