RESIDENTS were being evacuated when the car bomb exploded outside Dunmurry police station at the weekend.
Shortly after 10.50pm on Saturday night, a delivery driver’s car was hijacked in Twinbrook and a gas cylinder device was placed in the boot of the vehicle. The man was ordered to drive it to Dunmurry police station.
The vehicle was abandoned outside the front of the station and police personnel immediately activated the station’s attack alarm.
A number of residents, including two babies were being taken to safety by officers when the device exploded, engulfing the vehicle in flames and sending debris in all directions.
Speaking on Sunday afternoon, PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said: “It is everyone’s responsibility to call out such reckless attacks.
"This was not just an attack aimed at our incredible and hard-working police officers and staff. These mindless idiots wantonly risked the lives of local residents including very young children.
"This was an attack against the very society that so many people have strived to achieve. Anyone with any information whatsoever please come forward and help us stop these criminals before they actually hurt someone. There is no place for these people in our society.
"An attack on the PSNI is an attack on everyone."
Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton added: “Thanks to the swift actions of police, no one has been injured, which is nothing short of miraculous.
“Our thoughts today are with all those affected by this cowardly attack, the delivery driver for whom this will have been an extremely traumatic experience, residents who are still unable to return to their homes, our courageous officers and of course their families, who will be grateful their loved ones are safe, but will undoubtedly have been left shaken by the ordeal.
“We have commenced an attempted murder investigation which will be led by our Terrorism Investigation Unit and I would appeal to anyone who may have seen the hijacked vehicle in the Twinbrook area before 11pm to contact us."
First Minister Michelle O’Neill said those behind the attack have "put lives in danger and shown a total disregard for the local community".
“Our thoughts are with the delivery driver who was put through an extremely terrifying ordeal as well as those residents who had to be evacuated.
“It is extremely fortunate that nobody was killed or seriously injured by the selfish actions of those who have nothing to offer our society.”
