Van bomb partially explodes before area was cleared

Police have said that the van bomb left in Belfast City centre this morning had partially exploded before the area had been fully cleared.

Speaking at the scene, Chief Inspector Bill Brown said: "We received several warnings through the media and my officers responded and cleared the scene. I have to say that the warning we received was wholely inadequate to clear an area of this size, and I would like to commend my officers for their courageous actoins in clearing the scene as quickly as they did."

Hundreds of workers in businesses and offices in the area were evacuated in the security operation this morning. Bedford Street and adjacent streets were sealed off, to divert traffic around the scene, while bomb disposal experts examined the suspicious van parked near Windsor House.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing a muffled bang prior to the Army Technical Officers moving in to examine the vehicle.

A caller to a newsroom in Belfast claiming to represent dissident republican group, the Continuity IRA, said that a device had been left in the vehicle.

It is understood that masked men hijacked the van at Carrigart in west Belfast before parking the vehicle in Franklin Street close to Windsor House. Police have appealed for anyone with information on the movements of a white coloured van, licence plate L501 XGG, to contact them.

Scene of Crimes Officers are carrying out a forensic examination on the vehicle.

A later security alert at the Belfast Telegraph offices in Royal Avenue is being treated as a hoax. The road was closed to traffic for a time while the warning was investigated.

On Monday a series of alerts caused major disruption throughout the city centre.

The area around Wellington Place was sealed off on Monday morning when two armed men left a suspect package on a bus. Later the same morning the CastleCourt shopping centre was evacuated following a telephone warning to a local newspaper. The caller used a recognised code word and claimed to represent the Real IRA.

Both alerts on Monday proved to be hoaxes.

(SP)