A teenager has died after an improvised device he was carrying exploded in his hand during fierce rioting in north Belfast yesterday afternoon.
The 16-year-old, who was named locally as Glenn Sloan, suffered severe head and arm injuries and died later in hospital, a spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said.
"A number of police officers saw a man move forward with what appeared to be a pipe-bomb. It exploded in his hand, causing injuries to his head and arm", the spokesman added. The teenager was believed to be a loyalist.
Police officers in riot gear moved into the area when sectarian clashes began in Duncairn Gardens and North Queen Street just after 4 p.m. Over 50 petrol-bombs and paint-bombs were thrown during the disturbances which continued for some time, police said. Two soldiers and 17 police officers were injured.
The security forces dispersed rival crowds for a time, but they gathered again in the area, with more rioting ensuing last night. The PSNI spokesman described the situation in north Belfast as one of "widespread public disorder".
A Protestant community worker in the area, Mr Eddie McClean, vehemently denied that the youth was preparing to throw the bomb when it exploded. "The blast-bomb was thrown over from the republican side. He picked it up to throw it away when it exploded. The police are very quick to make assumptions", he said.
Mr McClean claimed that a 12-year-old boy was injured in the neck by the blast and was taken to hospital. He said that the trouble originally started at noon after nationalists attempted to disrupt a Remembrance Day service in North Queen Street.
The Sinn FΘin MLA for North Belfast, Mr Gerry Kelly, denied that the pipe-bomb had been thrown by republicans.
"I can tell you with absolute certainty it was not thrown from the nationalist side. The bomb was at the loyalist end", he claimed.
Mr Kelly said that the trouble began in the morning after loyalists taking part in a Remembrance Day service in the nearby Tiger's Bay area attacked Catholic homes. He claimed that one local man had lost his eye in the attack.
Mr Kelly said that a "wholesale riot" broke out at about 5 p.m. when loyalists attacked the nationalist crowd.
"The police fired plastic bullets at nationalists. A young lad aged 10 was hit in the leg and a girl aged 11 or 12 was hit in the stomach. She has gone to hospital", he said.
A PSNI spokesman confirmed that a number of plastic baton rounds had been fired, but said they had been discharged by British soldiers, not the police. He was unaware of any injuries caused, he added.
Meanwhile, a shot was fired through the window of a house in south Belfast yesterday. No one was injured in the gun attack, which occurred at Powerscourt Place in the lower Ormeau area at about 3 p.m.