A "crude but substantial" bomb which caused traffic chaos in Belfast yesterday could have resulted in a fireball which would have killed or seriously injured someone, police claimed today.
The Westlink which joins the M1 motorway with the M2 in the city was thrown into turmoil for much of the afternoon as army bomb disposal experts carried out three controlled explosions on the device on board a bread van abandoned at the Broadway roundabout.
Earlier in the day, two men, one armed with a handgun, hijacked the vehicle on the Glen Road, claiming to be from the IRA.
However police said they suspected they were dissident Republicans.
The van driver was forced to drive it through west Belfast and stop while the crude incendiary style device was placed on board.
He was then given specific instructions to drive it to the Broadway roundabout near west Belfast's Grosvenor Road and the Westlink.
Police described the device as substantial, confirming it consisted of a 10-gallon drum of petrol.
"Had it exploded it would have resulted in a huge fireball which would have engulfed anybody nearby, causing serious injury or death," a police spokesman said.
PA