Ten Protestant men are dead following a mass shooting in south Armagh.
Ten men who worked at the John Compton Ltd. textile factory are the latest victims in a spate of sectarian killings in Northern Ireland.
On 4 January five Catholics died in sectarian violence in this locality. In Ballyduggan brothers Declan and Barry O'Dowd and their uncle Joseph O’Dowd were gunned down while attending a family occasion. Brian and John Reavey were shot in their farmhouse at Whitecross.
Last night the group of coworkers were on their way home when the minibus they were travelling in was ambushed on an isolated road at Kingsmills.
Gunmen surrounded the vehicle, and the Catholic driver was removed. The men who were killed were John McConville (20), Walter Chapman (23), Reginald Chapman (25), Joseph Lemon (46), James McWhirter (58), Kenneth Worton (24), Robert Chambers (19), John Bryans (46), Robert Freeburn (50) and Robert Walker (46).
A group calling itself the Republican Action Force, widely believed to be the Provisional IRA (Irish Republican Army), has claimed responsibility.
All the men were personally known in the nearby village of Bessbrook. The community is struggling to come to terms with the enormity of what has happened.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 6 January 1976. The reporter is Brian Black.
