Family in 'race hate' arson attack

Seven Malaysian people escaped a suspected race-hate arson attack on a house in Belfast today.

They were inside the property on Dunluce Avenue in the south of the city when a sofa was pushed against the front window and set alight.

All of them managed to get out uninjured, but the outside of the house and a parked car were damaged.

Police alerted to the scene just before 1am confirmed they were investigating a possible racial motive for the attack.

Carmel Hanna, an SDLP Assembly member for South Belfast, hit out at the thugs involved, saying they could have killed.

She said: “The racist attack on an overseas family in Dunluce Avenue is utterly reprehensible and, if it had been successful, could have led to the deaths of seven innocent people.

“The people who perpetrated this attack must be brought to justice and receive very severe jail sentences and I call on everyone with any information to provide it to the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland).

“What we see in this attack is vicious racism substituting for sectarianism and it bears out my contention that sectarianism and racism are two sides of the one coin.”

Meanwhile, five people got out through an upstairs window after a house in Craigavon, Co Armagh was set on fire.

Petrol was poured through a letter box on Clonmeen Avenue and lit at around 4am today.

None of the occupants were hurt, and police do not suspect either a racial or sectarian motive for the attack.

A number of petrol bombs were later discovered in the area.