'Suspect package' explodes in Belfast
An explosion has taken place outside the police training college in Belfast, police said today.
A police patrol was investigating a report of suspicious activity outside the Garneville police training college at just after 11pm last night when they discovered a suspect parcel.
A section of Old Holywood Road was closed and the accommodation block of the college and a number of local homes were evacuated while the package was investigated.
But a Police Service of Northern Ireland spokeswoman said that the device exploded while it was being examined.
The back gates of the college were damaged but no one is reported to have been injured, she said.
A search of the surrounding area was continuing this morning.
Assistant Chief Constable Alan McQuillan said: ‘‘This is not an attack on the police service but an attack on all the people in Northern Ireland who want to move forwards.’’
A graduation ceremony for the first recruits to the new Police Service of Northern Ireland was held at the college earlier this month.
