The Provisional IRA killed a young British Army officer in a landmine attack. A two-vehicle army patrol was travelling along the A5 towards their base in Omagh, Co Tyrone, when the 500lb device was detonated. Second Lieutenant Andrew Somerville was in the turret of the lead vehicle, a Ferret armoured car. He was killed almost immediately, while the driver escaped with minor injuries.
The huge device had been concealed in a concrete pipe that ran underneath the road. The driver in the second vehicle said the crater left by the explosion stretched across the road.
Lt Somerville was 20-years-old and serving with the 16/5 Lancers. He came from Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire.
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| A Ferret armoured car like the one Lt Somerville was travelling in |
