The 1996 Manchester bombing was an attack carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on Saturday 15 June 1996 in Manchester, England. The 3,300-pound (1,500 kg) bomb, placed in a van on Corporation Street in Manchester city centre, targeted the city's infrastructure and economy and caused widespread damage, estimated by insurers at £700 million (£1.1 billion as of 2015). The IRA had sent telephoned warnings about 90 minutes before the bomb detonated. The area was evacuated, but the bomb squad were unable to defuse the bomb in time.