Two hurt in riot in north Belfast

Two people, one a 14-year-old boy, have been injured after a blast-bomb was thrown during a riot in north Belfast.

Two people, one a 14-year-old boy, have been injured after a blast-bomb was thrown during a riot in north Belfast.

Police said hundreds of loyalists and nationalists clashed at the junction of Duncairn Gardens and Hallidays Road at about 4.30 p.m. yesterday.

Stones and bottles were thrown and a blast-bomb was thrown by loyalists into the nationalist crowd, injuring two people. A spokesman for the nearby Mater Hospital said two people were treated for minor injuries.

The area was soon swamped by the RUC and British army, and the factions were separated. Gates remained shut yesterday evening and the situation was calm, although the security forces remained in place.

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A Sinn Fein representative, Ms Cathy Stanton, claimed the trouble had arisen yesterday morning when a bus carrying Catholic children was pelted with missiles as it left on a day trip to the seaside resort of Bangor, Co Down.

"Gangs of loyalist men came in and attacked homes with bolts, bottles and bricks," she said. "Some people came out to protect their homes, and a blastbomb came straight in and exploded in the middle of nationalists."

Meanwhile three men have been injured in paramilitary-style attacks. Two men, aged 39 and 21, were shot in the leg in Greencastle on the outskirts of north Belfast at 10.40 p.m. on Sunday.

Earlier, a 23-year-old man was admitted to hospital with a gunshot wound to his left leg following an attack in the nearby Rathcoole estate, in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim.

An RUC spokesman said the shooting happened at about 7 p.m. on Sunday.