A bomb partially exploded inside a stolen van in a Belfast shopping area yesterday. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said dissident republicans had endangered civilians by giving an inadequate warning.
A hijacked Ford Transit van carrying the device was abandoned in Franklin Street. The bomb partially exploded as shoppers and office workers were being evacuated from the area.
A warning was phoned to newsrooms but before bomb squads reached the area a muffled explosion was heard.
No one was injured, but the explosion blew out the rear window of the van, after which experts carried out a controlled explosion of the rest of the device, police said.
Chief Insp Bill Brown of the PSNI told reporters that dissident republicans opposed to the Belfast Agreement were responsible.
He also said the warning which had been given was inadequate, given the location of the stolen van and the device it contained and the potential size of the blast.
"Had it not been for the swift action of my officers, things would have turned out differently," he said.