A front page News Letter editorial the day after the Ballykelly attack demanded that the Government “act now to end this cancer of violence”.
It accused the then Government of failing in its duty to the people of Northern Ireland.
“Times and conditions in Northern Ireland are abnormal and it is for the Government to recognise that fact and rectify the failure to do so by its predecessors,” stated the News Letter.
“Are they terrified of the IRA? Or the INLA? Are they afraid of some outburst of nationalist fervour and more atrocious deeds when today the leaders of that community and of their church are calling for the capture of those who committed this latest atrocious act and are denouncing it as the antithesis of Christianity?
“If that is not Government’s fear why are they failing in their essential duty to the citizens of this country?”
The editorial also said: “No fate could be more cruel, no anguish greater than to be the sudden, unsuspecting victim of this fiendish act by people for whom neither God nor human life have any significance.”
Among the News Letter reports was an interview with an experienced surgeon who had been left stunned by the severity of the injuries.
Harry Bennett was “shaking with emotion”, said the paper, as he described how the bombing was one of the most inhuman events he had ever experienced.
“Not since La Mon restaurant massacre in 1978 has there been anything like it for unimaginable horror,” he said.
“I cannot find words strong enough to describe how I feel about these people. This was a really vicious attack without any warning.”
As well as the 17 killed in the attack, almost 70 people were treated at Altnagelvin and overflowing to Roe Valley in Limavady, Craigavon Hospital and Musgrave Park in Belfast. One teenage girl was described as so mutilated that she confused two families who both claimed her.