Over 3,300 lbs worth of explosives were packed into a truck that had been purchased from Peterborough and subsequently driven North.

The truck was parked outside Marks and Spencer on Corporation Street at approximately 9.00am. It was the day before Father's Day. It was also the day when England played Scotland in Euro '96 and the Trouping of the Colour took place in London.

This is how the events unfolded:

7.00am - Police pass Marks and Spencer on Corporation Street. The van containing the bomb is not there (see location plan to right).

9.20am - Van spotted on video turning from St.Mary's Gate into Corporation Street.

9.22am - The vehicle stops on Corporation Street.

9.29am - The warden puts a ticket on the windscreen of a white box car, with Jack Roberts Transport on the side, partked on a single yellow line beside a pillar box outisde the store. No sign of the driver (see image to right).

9.30am - By now, despite the relatively early hour, tens of thousands of visitors are thronging the city's shops and streets.

9.41am - A man with an Irish accent rings Granada TV in Manchester and warns of a bomb near Marks and Spencer, timed to go off in an hour. He also gives a codeword used by the IRA. Similar calls are received at three other places including the offices of RTE television in Ireland.

9.43am - Greater Manchester Police are contacted and quickly conclude that the calls were genuine. 

10.02am - The Ford Cargo van is found by a police constable. Police emergency procedure, honed after the 1992 bombing in the city, swings into action (see image from helicopter to right).

10.09am - Police contact security personnel at offices in the vicinity and Marks and Spencer begins evacuation of staff. Clearing of persons begins in earnest.

10.13am - Army bomb disposal team summoned from Liverpool 

10.15am - Shops and offices in the Arndale Centre, Royal Exchange and surrounding area begin to clear. Market Street, St. Ann's Street, Cross Street and parts of Deansgate closed to traffic.

10.30am - Arndale Centre is completely cleared say police. Police vans tour the area telling people to move away. A police helicopter hovers overhead issuing instructions by loudhailer. Many assume it is a false alarm.

10.45am - Further road blocks set up to stop people coming into the city centre.

11.00am - Bomb disposal team arrives and assembles at Back Pool Fold, close to the suspect van (see image above). In London, the Trouping of the Colour is beginning. 

11.12am - Robotic device sent forward to carry out remote examination of van (see image to right).

11.13am - Suddenly police officer runs down Cross Street shouting "get back".

11.15am - A plume of smoke rises above the city (see image to right). The explosion is heard up to eight miles away.

11.17am - Injured people treated on pavements in Deansgate, Market Street and Piccadilly by onlookers and ambulance paramedics. Some of those hurt are foreign football fans. Ambulance service receives first emergency call to go to Felton Street. More than 20 fire engines and a fleet of ambulances pour into the city.

11.19am - A tourist in Manchester captures the moment on video (see image to left).

11.20am - Ambulance service gathers around 30 casualties in Chapel Street and commandeers a bus to get them out of the immediate danger zone.

11.25am - First casualties begin to arrive at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Patients also ferried to North Manchester General, Hope Hospital, Salford and Withington, Wythenshawe and Trafford General Hospitals.

11.30am - Prime Minister, John Major, offers his comments to reporters (see image to right).

11.40am - Emergency centre setup by City Council at the Town Hall in Albert Square is fully operational. Architects, planners and city workers personnel brought in as well to co-ordinate social services, housing for those who cannot reach their homes and traffic control.

12.05pm - Police helicopter with loudhailer circles Piccadilly Gardens instructing people to evacuate the area. Several small fires have been put out and around 100 firefighters are now involved.

12.15pm - Chief Superintendent Peter Harris is "pretty convinced" that the outrage was the work of the IRA. Police continue to evacuate city centre (see image to left).

12.50pm - For the first time, Greater Manchester Ambulance Services calls on one of its new four-man Special Casualty Assessment Teams to search for any trapped vehicles. 

13.00pm - A suspect device - which  later proves harmless - is blown up in a controlled explosion at Piccadilly Gardens by bomb disposal experts. By now, ambulance service estimates of the injured have been swelled by large numbers of bloodied "walking wounded" who arrive at outpatients' and casualty departments under their own steam.

15.00pm - More than 200 people have arrived at Manchester hospitals for treatment including a pregnant woman who was blown in the air and 42-year old woman from Lancashire with horrific facial injuries. City centre devastation captured by image to right.

16.00pm - City Council Chief Executive Arthur Sandford meets police chiefs at their Chester House HQ to assess the situation. Old Trafford Football Ground is closed and searched to ensure the safety of fans at Sunday's Germany v Russia Euro '96 football match.

17.00pm - Trevor McDonald delivers the news to the nation. It is the main headline (see left).

17.30pm - Martin Bell reports from Cross Street - the corden is still in place (see image to right)

Sunday 16 June 1996 - Father's Day. The story was front page news. The Daily Mail considered matters from a political perspective (see right). The city centre remained cordened off.