Viable explosive device found in package sent to Derry hotel during Halloween fun fair

Viable device found at Ebrington Square

Police received a report at around 3.20pm on Tuesday, 27 October that a suspicious package had been delivered to a hotel in the Ebrington Square area of Derry. The hotel was evacuated, along with neighbouring premises and their staff, while a Halloween fun fair was taking place nearby. Army ammunition technical officers examined the object in the Waterside area and carried out a controlled explosion, after which the device was found to be viable. The remnants have since been taken away for forensic examination, and an investigation has begun. The PSNI has condemned the incident as a "reckless and targeted attack" that caused "significant disruption and distress" to the local community, and it has appealed for anyone with information to come forward. An early alert on the afternoon of 27 October reported that no roads were closed and a nearby business premises had been evacuated, and police said an update would follow in due course.

Stormont's Justice Minister Naomi Long described the incident as "shameful" and said the people behind it had shown no regard for the community or businesses affected.

“I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms.”

Political reaction

Local SDLP MP Colum Eastwood said that targeting a hotel with a funfair nearby during Derry's Halloween celebrations is "absolutely despicable". He said hotel staff, guests and families, children among them, had been put at risk, and that there could be no "twisted justification or logic" for such an act. Eastwood added that the city would carry on with its preparations because "we won't allow this act to deter from it", and that the Halloween celebrations would show the city at its best. Julie Middleton, a Foyle Assembly member for the DUP, called the incident "deeply disturbing" and said the device had been placed near families, including children, enjoying the fun fair. Middleton appealed for anyone with information to pass it to the PSNI, however small it may seem. Naomi Long, the Alliance leader, said those responsible had again shown reckless disregard for the community and businesses affected, and thanked the officers who responded.

The Shantallow stabbing

Police are separately treating a stabbing in the Shantallow area of Londonderry as attempted murder. A man in his 30s was stabbed multiple times on Tuesday night, 27 October, with the alert raised shortly before 23:40 GMT. The victim flagged down a passing motorist on the Skeoge Link Road, who called for help, and paramedics treated him at the scene before he was taken to Altnagelvin hospital. Detectives believe two men were involved, and the PSNI is still working out the circumstances of the attack, including exactly where it happened. Several potential crime scenes were in place on Wednesday, 28 October, in Steelstown Village, Racecourse Road and Cornshell Fields. Police want to speak to anyone who was in the Earhart Park and Cornshell Fields areas at around 22:30 GMT, and Detective Inspector Lizzie Ballentine described the assault in these words:

“This was a serious incident, a vicious assault, which has left a man seriously injured.”