Russell Street bombing: The day that shocked a nation

Sometimes life and death can be decided by something as simple as the toss of a coin. On that day, so many years ago, a young policewoman named Angela Taylor was working in the watch house at Russell Street when she lost the toss over who would do the staff lunch run. She was only a metre away when a car bomb, containing around 60 sticks of gelignite, exploded at 47 seconds past 1pm.

She was caught in the fireball, suffered horrendous injuries and died 24 days later.While Melbourne was shocked, those who made the bomb were disappointed with the level of devastation. While they killed one and left another 21 injured, they expected a much greater death toll. This is the story of the bombing, the investigation and the tragic aftermath.

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