{"id":316197,"date":"2025-08-04T03:46:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T03:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/316197\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T03:46:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T03:46:22","slug":"device-in-magherafelt-security-alert-may-have-been-viable-explosive-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/316197\/","title":{"rendered":"Device in Magherafelt security alert may have been \u2018viable explosive\u2019 \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A device at the centre of an overnight security alert<\/a> in Magherafelt on Saturday may have been a \u201cviable explosive\u201d, according to police. <\/p>\n

Residents in the Golf Terrace area of the Co Derry town<\/a> were evacuated after a suspicious object was reported outside a home at around 7.20pm on August 2.<\/p>\n

Ammunition Technical Officers later carried out a controlled explosion after they deemed that the device may have been a plausible explosive.<\/p>\n

Road more: <\/b>Security alert ends in Magherafelt<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>\"Cops<\/a><\/p>\n

The road remained closed until Sunday morning and residents were allowed to return to their homes. <\/p>\n

\"PressPolice say a controlled explosion was carried out after it was deemed the device may have been a ‘viable explosive’. PICTURE: JONATHAN PORTER\/PRESSEYE <\/p>\n

A police<\/a> spokesperson said: \u201cPolice received a report of a suspicious object outside a residential property at around 7.20pm on Saturday. <\/p>\n

\u201cOfficers attended the scene and a safety operation was put in place. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe road was closed to motorists and a number of local residents had to be evacuated from their homes overnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmmunition Technical Officers determined that the object may have been a viable explosive device and carried out a controlled explosion, before residents were able to return to their homes on Sunday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

They added that it was \u201can extremely distressing experience for residents, who had to deal with the fear of this device in their community alongside the discomfort and inconvenience of being put out of their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The device has been taken away for further examination and police are attempting to establishing the circumstances surrounding the incident. <\/p>\n

SDLP Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone said families were forced from their homes for hours overnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people at Golf Terrace were out of their homes from 7 o\u2019clock last night until just after 4 o\u2019clock this morning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on site with residents until the early hours, and I want to pay tribute to the community for their patience, resilience, and cooperation during what was a deeply distressing and unacceptable disruption to their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is absolutely no justification for bringing this type of fear and disorder into our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr McGlone said he had requested an urgent meeting with Choice Housing, Praxis Care, and the PSNI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A device at the centre of an overnight security alert in Magherafelt on Saturday may have been a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[83208,80195,1865,16768,1144,1618,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-316197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-bomb","9":"tag-co-derry","10":"tag-explosion","11":"tag-magherafelt","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-psni","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114968447588256714","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}