Belfast , Ireland ( CNN ) -- The British government said Thursday it will pay compensation to the relatives of those killed and wounded by British soldiers in the Bloody Sunday shootings in Northern Ireland in 1972 . Thirteen people died when British troops opened fire at a mainly Catholic civil rights march in Londonderry , and another man died four months later of injuries sustained on that day . Last year , Prime Minister David Cameron described what happened in Londonderry as `` unjustified and unjustifiable , '' following the release by the British government of a damning report that reversed decades of official explanations for the 1972 killings . The paratroopers who killed 14 people had no reason to believe they were under threat from the victims , gave no warnings before firing and lied to the far-reaching official inquiry into the seminal event , the inquiry concluded . The independent Saville Report was a comprehensive rejection of the British government 's official account of the killings , which had stood for 38 years . Lawyers representing the affected families wrote to Cameron demanding compensation . The families now say Britain 's Ministry of Defence has replied , saying it wants to `` resolve the compensation question as quickly as possible . '' `` We acknowledge the pain felt by these families for nearly 40 years , and that members of the armed forces acted wrongly . For that , the government is deeply sorry , '' a spokesman for the ministry said Thursday . `` We are in contact with the families ' solicitors and where there is a legal liability to pay compensation we will do so . '' However , the relatives of one of the victims -- 19-year-old William Nash -- say they want the soldiers involved to be prosecuted for murder and will not accept the compensation . The relatives branded the British government offer `` repulsive '' and said they would not accept a payment `` under any circumstances . '' Bloody Sunday is widely accepted as fueling support for the IRA ( Irish Republican Army ) during the early years of what became known as The Troubles -- 30 years of violence between pro-British and pro-Irish forces . Even the name of the city where it happened is disputed , with pro-Irish nationalists calling it Derry and pro-British unionists calling it Londonderry . The IRA , a republican paramilitary organization , is listed by the British Home Office as a proscribed terrorist group . The Troubles claimed about 3,000 lives over a three-decade period , with 1972 the single bloodiest year . The pro-British Ulster Unionist Party has called for IRA victims to be compensated by the British government .
The Ministry of Defence says it was the pain felt by families . British soldiers shot dead three people and a 14th later died of his injuries . A report last year found that British soldiers were to blame in the massacre . Bloody Sunday is widely accepted as having fueled violence in Northern Ireland .