Police in the North are trawling through hours of CCTV footage in the hunt for a man in a black hooded top suspected of leaving a bomb outside a busy restaurant in Belfast.
Vigilant passers-by who discovered the dissident republican device minutes before it detonated in the packed Cathedral Quarter district last night have been hailed by the PSNI for averting a tragedy.
Officers, acting on misleading information provided in a telephone bomb warning to a Belfast newspaper, had been evacuating people from a hotel 150 metres away from where a sports bag containing the bomb had been placed.
Once informed about the holdall by members of the public, they were able to refocus the security operation on the area immediately around it.
The bomb warning was telephoned to the Irish News at 6pm, the report of the bag was received at 6.20pm and the bomb exploded at 6.44pm. No one was injured, with 1,000 people having been evacuated from the area. Police have characterised the explosion as “small” but potentially deadly.
Dissident group Oglaigh na hÉireann has claimed responsibility for the latest in a recent spate of terror attacks by extremist republicans opposed to the peace process.
Detective Chief Inspector Justyn Galloway, the PSNI officer leading the investigation into the blast, outlined the deadly potential of the bomb.
“This device fully functioned,” he said.
“The device contained flammable liquid and explosives and it has some similarities to devices that have been used before by dissident republicans.”
The PSNI today released an image of the black Slazenger bag in which the bomb was contained, taken moments before it exploded.
Mr Galloway praised those who noticed the bag and contacted police.
“Members of the public were vigilant and they did come forward and speak to police and it clearly averted injuries last night,” he said.
He appealed to anyone who may have seen the suspect carrying the holdall in and around the Cathedral Quarter area.
“Did they see a male wearing a black hoody carrying a black Slazenger bag in and around 6pm last night,” he said.
“If they saw this person or anyone acting suspiciously I would ask them to come forward and speak to detectives.”
The lead detective also commended the actions of the police and staff in the restaurants, bars and hotel who assisted with the evacuation.
He said analysis of security camera footage from the area as a key priority for the police.
“Detectives are out today and have been out through the night, it is a built up area, there is a large amount of cameras and that is definitely one line of enquiry we are following up,” he said.
Security measures are being ramped up in Belfast city centre following the explosion.
With thousands expected to hit the capital’s high streets on what is to be one of the busiest Christmas shopping weekends of the year, police have appealed for vigilance.
And businesses are continuing to urge people to support trade by venturing into the centre.
Police have been stopping cars and checking car boots at the entrance of Castle Court Shopping Centre in the city since last month.
Other security checkpoints were set up throughout Belfast after a man was forced by masked dissidents to drive a car bomb to another shopping centre - one that faces a police station - in late November.
That 132lb device only partially exploded and no-one was injured.
PA