3 Killed, 60 Injured in Attack on IRA Funeral : Gunman Caught, Beaten After Tossing Grenades and Firing at Mourners for Guerrillas in Belfast

A suspected Protestant gunman hurled grenades and fired on graveside mourners at the funeral of three IRA guerrillas today, killing three and wounding nearly 60 before the crowd gave chase, witnesses and police said.

At least four of the wounded were in serious condition after the attack in which about 15 shots were fired and five or six grenades lobbed into the crowd.

Police said a man was arrested and taken to a hospital after the attack. Supporters of the Irish Republican Army blamed Protestant extremists for the assault.

Witnesses said the unidentified man was chased by mourners from Milltown cemetery where the attack took place, and badly beaten.

Rioting Breaks Out

Riots broke out immediately in several Roman Catholic areas of West Belfast where IRA youths barricaded streets with hijacked vehicles which were set ablaze.

The gunfire and explosions rang out in the cemetery seconds after the coffins of Mairead Farrell, Daniel McCann and Sean Savage were lowered into graves.

The three were being given a full IRA funeral attended by about 10,000 people after being killed in a British army ambush in Gibraltar on March 6 while suspected of being on a bombing mission.

Police and British troops had deliberately stayed clear of the funerals to avoid the risk of clashes with IRA supporters.

Witnesses reported panic in the cemetery when the explosions and a volley of shots rang out.

Appeal for Calm

Officials of Sinn Fein, the outlawed IRA’s legal political wing, appealed for calm as the dead and wounded fell at the graveside and terrified mourners dived for cover.

Amid the pandemonium at least two more explosions shook the cemetery.

Witnesses said a man in blue coveralls crept up on the burial ceremony from the nearby M1 highway and threw grenades. He also fired into the crowd with an automatic pistol which he reloaded twice, they said.

Two men and a woman were killed, the Royal Victoria Hospital said.

A hospital spokesman said a number of the injured were undergoing surgery.

Police were searching for a white van seen on the highway which may have contained others involved in the attack.

Gunman About 35

A youth said the gunman was “a burly guy, about 35 years old, with a beard. He started throwing blast grenades and firing a gun. As he reloaded, he hurled blast bombs into the air. He just kept on firing and everyone fell to the ground. He was shooting into the moving crowd.”

The youth, who declined to be identified, said the white van believed to contain three accomplices drove off, leaving the gunman behind as angry mourners pursued him from the cemetery.

He threw a last grenade as he was overpowered and “the crowd fell around him and started hitting him. . . . They were too many around him, kicking him to kill him. They weren’t in the mood to talk to him.”

The man was rescued by police, who arrested him.