Miami Showband massacre: Survivor appeals to trace couple

Des Lee of the Miami showband laid flowers at the spot where his bandmates were murdered

A musician who survived the Miami showband massacre has, 40 years on, made an appeal to trace a young couple who helped him at the time.

Three band members were taken from their tour bus and shot dead on a country road after a gig in Banbridge, County Down, on 31 July 1975.

Two survived, having been helped by a couple who picked them up in their car.

On Friday, one of them, Des Lee, revisited the scene on Friday that he said "haunts my every waking hour".

The band's lead singer Fran O'Toole, guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Brian McCoy were killed after their minibus was flagged down by loyalist paramilitaries who were also members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) at Buskhill, north of Newry, in the early hours of the morning.

The Miami Showband massacre in 1975 was the first time musicians had been targeted by a terrorist group in Northern Ireland

Three members of the Miami Showband were murdered by the UVF

While the band members were lined up outside, two UVF men attempted to leave a bomb in the van.

It exploded prematurely, killing some of the would-be bombers. The rest of the gang then opened fire on the band members.

Mr Lee and guitarist Stephen Travers survived their injuries.

When the bomb went off, it blew Mr Lee into a ditch and he was left for dead.

Eventually he clambered out and ran to find help. A young couple brought him to the police in their car.

On the 40th anniversary of the atrocity, he revisited the scene to lay flowers at the site.

He appealed for information to trace the couple who helped him in his "greatest hour of need" and saved the life of Mr Travers to come forward so he can thank them.