Three held in connection with Derry bomb attack

Three people have been arrested in connection with the bomb attack on an army base on the outskirts of Derry which killed a contract worker working at the base.

A PSNI spokesman said police carrying out searches in the Derry and Strabane area have arrested two men and a woman.

David Caldwell, a 51-year-old civilian contractor was seriously injured in the blast which occurred at 7.20 this morning and died later in hospital.

Security sources have accused dissident republicans for the bomb.

Undated photograph of Mr David Caldwell, who died after an explosion at Caw Camp in Derry today

It is understood 51-year-old Mr David Caldwell picked up the device, which was hidden in a lunchbox, at Caw Camp on the Limavady Road at about 7.20 a.m. The base is used mainly by ambulance and other medical units in the TA.

He suffered serious injuries to a hand and the abdomen and was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry where he died a short time later.

Mr Caldwell is understood to have been a former member of the Ulster Defence Regiment who lived in the village of Eglinton, six miles outside Derry.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman said the cause of the explosion was uncertain but that a British army technical team would investigate. The area around the base has now been cordoned off.

"This is a Territorial Army base which has been non-operational since July 2001," said the spokesman. "It is currently undergoing refurbishment, which is why there was a civilian worker there this morning".

This is a centre for medical units which provide TA personnel for peacekeeping and humanitarian tasks all over the world Territorial Army spokesman

Politicians of all hues have condemned the attack with the Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen condemning the attackers as 'the enemy of democracy and the peace process'. In a statement, he said: 'I unreservedly condemn the brutal and callous murder of a worker at the Territorial Army base in Derry.

'The people who carried out this cold blooded and cowardly act represent nobody but themselves. They are the enemy of democracy and the peace process. They cannot be allowed to prevail.'

Mr Cowen extended his own condolences and those of the Government to the family of the victim and called on 'all right thinking people to do everything in their power to bring the perpetrators of this horrendous crime to justice'.

A British Army spokesman denounced it as a "despicable, cowardly attack". He said: "This is a centre for medical units which provide TA personnel for peacekeeping and humanitarian tasks all over the world. These people are lifesavers and it's outrageous that such an incident should occur in such a place".

Security forces believe the "Real IRA" was responsible for recent attacks in the area. Similar attacks on the Magilligan Camp, Ballykelly British army base, Claudy police station and Ebrington barracks were blamed on the dissident republican group.

Additional reporting: PA, Reuters