The home of an elderly disabled man has been set on fire after petrol bombs were thrown into his north Belfast home as he slept upstairs.
The device landed in the living room and ignited the curtains, carpet and furniture as Mr Samuel Swindell lay asleep in his Cliftonpark Avenue home.
The Protestant man's sister-in-law, Ms Marian Dougan, described the attack as sectarian and said if Mr Swindell's son, Samuel Jr had not been at home at the time, his father would have been "burnt to death".
"Sammy was upstairs in bed and only for the fact that Samuel Jr was in the house, this could have been a tragedy. There's no doubt he saved his father's life," she said.
"He heard the window smashing and ran into the living room to tackle the blaze. Thankfully a number of the neighbours also came to help his father out of the house.
"These people have lived here for 18 years and are among the quietest people you could ever meet, this was nothing other than a sectarian attack."
Independent unionist councillor Mr Frank McCoubrey described the attack, which occurred at around 10.30pm, as attempted murder.
"I totally condemn this attack and it is quite clear that these people could have been killed," he said. "These elderly people are among the most vulnerable in our society and it is disgraceful that they have been targeted in this way.
"There have been a number of tit-for-tat sectarian attacks in north Belfast recently and it has to stop," he added.
It follows two separate petrol bomb attacks in Catholic areas of the city over the last two days by loyalist gangs.
Yesterday, a catholic couple and their three-year-old twin sons have escaped injury in a petrol bomb attack on their Belfast home today.