Relatives cheer Bloody Sunday findings

Families of those killed by British troops on Bloody Sunday cheered as the inquiry completely exonerated their loved ones.

Applause erupted in Derry’s Guildhall Square as the names of the victims were read out.

Relative Gerry Duddy said: “Over 38 years ago, a young man, my brother, Jackie, in Saville’s own words, was running away from the soldiers when he was shot and at that time he was posing no threat of serious injury to anyone.”

Earlier, crowds retrod the route taken by the original marchers on January 30 1972, many of them carrying pictures of the dead. They walked silently from the city’s memorial to the victims to the area where many of them were gunned down.

Bloody Sunday was a rallying cry in the province’s recent violent history, which became known as “The Troubles.”

The killings drove hundreds of new recruits to join the Irish Republican Army, the militant organisation that wanted Northern Ireland to become part of the neighbouring Irish Republic.

Copyright © 2012 euronews