Red Panda blaze 'difficult'

A blaze at the Red Panda restaurant on Great Victoria Street was desribed as one of the most difficult blazes that local fire crews have had to tackle.

The fire in the four-storey building broke out in the first floor bar area at around 7.30 on Sunday morning.

While the fire was contained to the first floor of the restaurant, it had threatened to spread to adjacent floors via panelling and internal ducts in the building.

Around 13 appliances and 60 fire crews attended the scene as fire crews had to strip away internal panels to ensure that the blaze was extinguished.

Great Victoria Street was cordoned off during the incident but has since reopened.

The fire is not thought to be suspicious, but the scene is still being examined by investigators.

Elsewhere a family escaped injury in a house fire at Silverbirch Crescent in the Waterside area of Londonderry.

A smoke alarm alerted the family to the blaze which seriously damaged the bungalow.

(SP/KMcA)