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LAST UPDATE | 12 hrs ago
PEOPLE WERE FORCED to flee their homes as multiple cars and homes were set alight during serious disorder on Tuesday night in the wake of a serious knife attack in the city.
Businesses were also attacked by groups of masked young men, with several hundred turning out in the city following calls on social media for anti-immigration protests.
Emergency services attended up to 62 incidents as a result of the scenes.
Following widespread condemnation of the initial incident, which occurred on Monday night, anti-immigration demonstrations took place across Northern Ireland, with a number descending into violence.
A man is now set to appear in court charged with attempted murder over Monday’s stabbing attack.
The victim – a man aged in his 40s – remains in a serious condition in hospital receiving treatment for serious eye, face and back wounds.
The 30-year-old accused, who is Sudanese, is also charged with possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place and making threats to kill.
He is due to appear at Belfast Magistrates’ Court later on Wednesday.
A Glider bus was set alight in east Belfast on Tuesday evening, prompting all bus and train services to be suspended.
In Lendrick Street, several cars were set alight and Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) officers had to remove some residents from houses after they caught fire.
A number of houses and vehicles were set on fire near the Ligoniel Road area of Belfast and a police car was set alight in Portadown.
An NIFRS spokesperson said it had managed 256 calls resulting in attendance at 62 incidents between 7pm and midnight.
“The majority of these incidents were in the Greater Belfast Area where an additional 21 fire appliances from across Northern Ireland were required to meet demand,” a spokesperson said.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said officers had worked alongside partner agencies “responding to incidents as they arise and helping to keep people safe”.
One person whose house in Belfast was “completely” destroyed during disorder in Belfast said he lost “sentimental” items in the fire, including items belonging to his late father.
Jamie Corry, who has lived on Lendrick Street for 13 years, said there were cars parked near his house that were targeted last night.
“I came out that door and I told them: ‘This is my property, this is my property here,’ and then they started to light the red car up,” he told the Press Association.
“So once I saw the flames starting to get bigger and bigger, I moved away from my property, I moved down the street there and watched it all. The next minute the cars started to explode, the doors started smoking, the windows started melting, and the next thing the house was going to go up on fire.”
Another man, Anselme Shima, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but who has been living Belfast since 2013, said his family feared their house could be “the next to be attacked”.
“I’ve lived on my street for almost 10 years, I have a good relationship with my neighbours, but last night was a horrific one,” he told the Press Association.
“Whenever my kids were asking me: ‘Daddy what is that noise?’ Where is that smoke from?’ We rushed to close the windows because of the smoke coming from the bus and then this street was on fire.
“My kids kept asking me: ‘Daddy, what is happening?’ I didn’t know what to tell them, so I put the news on for them to see for themselves. My son was asking me: ‘Daddy, are we OK?’ and I said: ‘Let’s pray to see what god will do to us tonight.’
“Now I’m asking: should I send them to school or should I keep them home?”
Political leaders criticised Tuesday night’s violent scenes.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill condemned the “outright thuggery”.
She said: “Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice.”
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said that taking out “frustration at the evil actions of a person out on those who had no part in it is utterly wrong.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn condemned the disorder for “only damaging communities and putting innocent lives at risk”, adding that there is “no justification at all” for the destruction.
Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said debates over the immigration status of a Sudanese man charged with attempted murder following a stabbing attack which sparked a night of violence in Belfast are a “moot point”.
Speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning, she said: “There’s nothing to suggest, let’s be clear, that the individual involved in this attack was (anything) other than a regularised person, so he had five years leave to remain, and therefore the debate about his immigration status is a moot point.”
Long added that social media agitators who “yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map” were “weaponising the fear that people genuinely have about what happened”.
“Because, ultimately, if you’re driving people from their homes based on nothing but the colour of their skin, you can’t dress that up any other way, it’s racism, and those bad faith actors need to take a step back,” she said.
Detectives have said there is no indication Monday’s knife attack was terror-related.
The PSNI has launched a “critical incident” in response to the incident which was captured on video and appears to show a man stabbing at the victim’s head and neck while he was lying on the ground.
The clip shows people, including one with a hurling stick, intervening to stop the man attacking the victim in the Kinnaird Avenue residential area close to the busy Antrim Road in north Belfast.
A kitchen knife was recovered from the scene.
Police revealed details on the arrested man’s immigration status and how he travelled to the UK.
He entered Northern Ireland across the Irish border in February 2023 having flown to Dublin from Paris.
The suspect claimed asylum upon arrival and in September 2023 was granted leave to remain in the UK until 2028.
With reporting from Jane Matthews
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