A car that exploded outside a police station on the outskirts of Belfast had been hijacked, and the New IRA are believed to be responsible, police have said. The incident occurred on Saturday night in Dunmurry, with no injuries reported despite the blast happening while nearby residents, including two infants, were being evacuated.
Details of the incident
PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton stated that the car was hijacked shortly after 10.50pm in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast. A male delivery driver was forced to drive the vehicle to Dunmurry Police Station on the Kingsway and abandon it outside. A gas cylinder device had been placed in the boot, prompting police to activate the station's attack alarm.
Mr Singleton praised the swift actions of officers, saying: “Police officers immediately and courageously ran into danger, placing themselves in harm’s way, and evacuated nearby homes to protect the community. A number of residents, including two babies, were being taken to safety by officers when the device exploded, engulfing the vehicle in flames and sending debris in all directions.”
Comparison to previous attack
The deputy chief constable noted similarities to an attack at Lurgan Police Station in March, where a delivery vehicle was hijacked and a viable explosive placed inside. He said: “It is now the second attack of this nature in just a month. There are very many similarities between the two incidents, and as a consequence of that, our early working hypothesis is that this may well be the work of the New IRA who claimed responsibility for the attack in Lurgan.”
Mr Singleton described the device as reckless and unpredictable, stating: “What this type of device may have lacked in terms of its sophistication and scale, it more than made up for in its reckless unpredictability. Thanks to the swift actions of police, no-one has been injured, which is nothing short of miraculous.”
