Londonderry pipe bomb attack 'may have been sectarian' Published duration 4 September 2019

Police are investigating a possible sectarian motive for a pipe bomb attack on a house in Londonderry.

The bomb was thrown into Bonds Place in the Waterside and exploded at about 22:50 BST on Tuesday.

No-one was injured but damage was caused to the front door of a property.

Police Service of Northern Ireland Ch Insp Johnny Hunter said the attack could have been a "sectarian hate crime" and he called for anyone with information to contact detectives.

"It was a small pipe bomb type device - it did explode and it caused some damage but thankfully there were no injuries," he added.

"What occurred... could have had extremely serious consequences and we could have been dealing with serious injury or worse."

'Complete the jigsaw'

Homes in the area were evacuated as police officers and Army bomb experts examined the scene.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MLA Gary Middleton said there was "a lot of anger in the community" after the attack.

"We have seen in the past these types of devices being used and this one was very clearly a viable one," he added.

"If anyone had been near this device they could have been very seriously injured or killed.

"We need people to come forward so that this jigsaw can be completed and people can be brought before the courts."