3 in Irish Family Killed in Mistaken IRA Blast

Three members of a family heading home from a vacation in the United States were killed in a bomb blast near the Irish border in what the outlawed Irish Republican Army said was a mistaken attack that was intended to kill British soldiers.

The blast blew a crater in the road and left bodies and luggage scattered on the main road between Dublin and Belfast, witnesses said.

Killed in the explosion were Robert James Hanna and Maureen Patricia Hanna, both 44, and their son David, 6.

Police described Hanna as a plumbing company director. They said the couple had a 17-year-old son and an 19-year-old daughter who were not traveling with them.

The victims were driving to their home in Hillsborough, 12 miles south of Belfast, where the daughter, Pauline, was waiting with a welcome home party, when the explosion occurred at about 10 a.m. near Newry, about a mile from the Irish border, police said.

Three people in other cars were slightly injured.

The incident brought to 21 the number of people killed in explosions in Ulster this year, police said.

The IRA, fighting to drive the British out of the predominantly Protestant province and unite it with the Roman Catholic Irish Republic, issued conflicting statements explaining the bombing.

In a statement issued to journalists in Northern Ireland, the South Armagh Brigade of the IRA said the Hannas were the “unfortunate victims of mistaken identity.” It said the attack was a carefully planned military operation that ended in “tragic and unfortunate circumstances.”

A later IRA statement said British scanning devices may have set off the device, which was planned for British soldiers.

“This bomb, which was to be detonated by remote control, exploded prematurely, tragically killing three civilians,” it said.