Londonderry: Police investigate suspected car bomb in Northern Ireland

Police are investigating after a suspected car bomb exploded in Northern Ireland.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland as well as firefighters and the ambulance service sealed off the scene close to a courthouse on Bishop Street in the city on Saturday night, at about 8.15pm, following the blast.

Officers tweeted an image of an expolision from its PSNI DC&S District account and warned people to stay away from the street.

In the moments afterwards, residents were evacuated from their homes as well as bars and clubs.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster called the exploision a "pointless act of terror".

She tweeted: "This pointless act of terror must be condemned in the strongest terms. Only hurts the people of the City.

"Perpetrated by people with no regard for life. Grateful to our emergency services for their swift actions which helped ensure there have been no fatalities or injuries."

The Standard has approached the police for clarification of any possible injuries.

The PSI later warned on its Foyle Facebook account officers were concerend about a second car on the street.

A post read: "As far we know, no one injured. There is anothe car we are not happy about. There are ongoing evacuations".

Witnesses earlier said they heard a loud bang and saw a large plume of smoke.

Local residents, including those in a sheltered housing complex for elderly people, were also evacuated.

Foyle Sinn Fein MP Elisha McCallion also condemned the blast.

She said: "This incident has shocked the local community. In particular, there are many elderly residents who live in the area who have been alarmed by this.

"Thankfully no-one appears to have been injured.

"Derry is a city moving forward and no-one wants this type of incident. It is not representative of the city.

"I would encourage anyone with information about this incident to bring it to the police."

SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan tweeted: "Whoever is responsible for this explosion outside Bishop Street Courthouse in Derry clearly hasn't got the message that the people of Derry DO NOT want this in our streets.

"We are trying to move Derry forward and will not let anyone drag us back to the dark days of the past."