Press photographer shot in the leg in renewed violence less than 24 hours after two men were left with gunshot wounds

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

A second night of sectarian violence has erupted in east Belfast, leaving a press photographer with a gunshot wound to the leg and two men with apparent burns after hundreds of people took the streets.

The unrest followed similar disturbances on Monday night in which two men were shot. Police brought in water cannon and used baton rounds after shots were fired and bricks and bottles hit their lines.

Several hundred people gathered near interfaces close to the Newtownards Road, and masked youths pelted each other with stones and fireworks. Police said around 700 people had congregated in the area, some of them carrying petrol bombs.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) issued a warning to the media to stay away from the area for their own safety, shortly before the PA news agency confirmed that one of its photographers had been shot in the leg and had been taken to hospital.

A spokeswoman for the PSNI said three shots had been fired. "One male has been injured and taken to hospital but the extent of his injuries is not known. Water cannon has been deployed."

Two men were also reportedly injured, suffering burn wounds, police said.

"Police are continuing to engage with local community representatives and are working to restore calm. The Albert Bridge road and Temple Bridge road are now closed," the spokeswoman added.

Police said 11 shots were fired during the riot on Monday, six by nationalists and five by loyalists. Two shots fired at police vehicles were being treated as attempted murder. Petrol and smoke bombs, fireworks, bricks and stones were thrown by an estimated 500 men in masks and crash helmets as violence broke out at about 9pm on Monday in the Lower Newtownards Road and Short Strand area of the city, a mainly nationalist area.

For four hours, missiles were hurled at homes on both sides of the sectarian divide along the main routes into Belfast's city centre. The shooting happened just before 1am.

Two Protestant men, both shot in a leg, were taken to hospital. One officer suffered a serious eye injury when rioters targeted police with lasers .

The PSNI confirmed that officers had fired a number of stun grenade rounds and said the service was investigating a report of an attempted hijacking of a bus.

Police said the violence was planned by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay said: "There certainly were people masked up and there were certainly people wearing surgical gloves ... There was some planning around this event, it just didn't spirit itself out of the ether."

One nationalist resident who asked not to be named said he had seen a gang gathering at about 3pm. "I saw all these men, not young lads, massing outside a local loyalist drinking den, all wearing crash helmets. I thought they were going on an outing, just messing around. But it was the same gang who came down later on … It's the worst I've seen in years and years."

Belfast's mayor, Niall Ó Donnghaile, a councillor based in the Short Strand area, said a number of Catholic residents had been injured, including one man who was knocked unconscious when he was hit with a brick.

"There is no doubt that this was unprovoked and was a carefully orchestrated and planned attack on the area," he said. "Homes have been attacked with petrol bombs and paint bombs, bricks, golf balls. I saw what happened."

A member of Northern Ireland's legislative assembly, Sinn Féin's Alex Maskey, said: "The UVF launched an attack on the Catholic community in this area. I think it's absolutely disgraceful."

Chief Superintendent Alan McCrum of the PSNI said that members of east Belfast UVF had been involved in planning the disorder.

McCrum, who appeared to rule out IRA splinter group involvement in the shooting of the two Protestants, admitted that his officers had been outnumbered on Monday but said the violence had not been expected.

"We had additional resources in the Short Strand on Monday night," he said, "but no one could have anticipated the scale of the disorder that took place."