Derry Blaze Bar Scene Evacuated

Sackville Street and Little James Street in Londonderry have been evacuated after a suspicious object was found in the remains of a bar which burnt-down early on Wednesday morning.

Army bomb experts have been sent to the scene.

The licensed premises, Sister Sara's, in the city centre was destroyed in the blaze at about 1.30am on Wednesday.

A police investigation is underway into the cause of the outbreak which devastated the bar, which is owned by a Donegal businessman, Hughie McGee.

The safety of the structure of Sister Sarah’s pub at Sackville Street was being assessed before the suspicious item was discovered this afternoon.

At the height of the fire some 50 firefighters were involved, such was the intensity, and while fire officers managed to evacuate people from an adjoining apartment building, one person was taken to hospital for the effects of breathing smoke.

The PSNI have since appealed to anyone who was in Sister Sara's from about 6pm on the evening before the fire to contact them at Strand Road police station.

(BMcC/KMcA)