Bombs defused in Northern Ireland
- 12 years ago
A van containing 250 kilogrammes of explosives was found along this road in Northern Ireland.
The device found near the border town of Newry was safely defused.
Police say it was powerful enough to kill anyone within a 50-metre radius if it had gone off.
SOUNDBITE: DISTRICT COMMANDER, CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT ALASDAIR ROBINSON, SAYING (English):
"The army technical officer has made safe a device contained in the back of a Citroen Berlingo van which had been abandoned. It was containing two blue barrels of about 125 kilogrammes each of home-made explosives with detonator booster tubes and all the priming equipment ready for the device to go."
Militant nationalists opposed to the 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of violence between supporters and opponents of British rule are being blamed for the incident.
Politicians on both sides of Northern Ireland's political divide are condemning the latest discovery.
SOUNDBITE: SINN FEIN MEMBER OF NORTHERN IRELAND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, MICKY BRADY, SAYING (English):
"Obviously there are residents living in the area so it's putting people's lives in danger. This is the main road out of Newry. People are going down it, and a lot of people go down for diesel and petrol to the south."
SOUNDBITE: ULSTER UNIONIST DANNY KENNEDY SAYING (English):
"I think the public will have to co-operate fully with the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) to identify the individuals behind this so that they can be apprehended and fully dealt with."
Another bomb was found under a parked car in Belfast. Eighty people were evacuated from their homes for five hours while it was also defused.
Paul Chapman, Reuters
The device found near the border town of Newry was safely defused.
Police say it was powerful enough to kill anyone within a 50-metre radius if it had gone off.
SOUNDBITE: DISTRICT COMMANDER, CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT ALASDAIR ROBINSON, SAYING (English):
"The army technical officer has made safe a device contained in the back of a Citroen Berlingo van which had been abandoned. It was containing two blue barrels of about 125 kilogrammes each of home-made explosives with detonator booster tubes and all the priming equipment ready for the device to go."
Militant nationalists opposed to the 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of violence between supporters and opponents of British rule are being blamed for the incident.
Politicians on both sides of Northern Ireland's political divide are condemning the latest discovery.
SOUNDBITE: SINN FEIN MEMBER OF NORTHERN IRELAND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, MICKY BRADY, SAYING (English):
"Obviously there are residents living in the area so it's putting people's lives in danger. This is the main road out of Newry. People are going down it, and a lot of people go down for diesel and petrol to the south."
SOUNDBITE: ULSTER UNIONIST DANNY KENNEDY SAYING (English):
"I think the public will have to co-operate fully with the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) to identify the individuals behind this so that they can be apprehended and fully dealt with."
Another bomb was found under a parked car in Belfast. Eighty people were evacuated from their homes for five hours while it was also defused.
Paul Chapman, Reuters