Viable bomb found at key east Belfast road as whole-day security operation concludes
A security operation which took almost a full day to complete has ended, with the device which sparked it declared “viable” by police.
Police got a report at about 7.15pm on Sunday of a suspicious object located in the Middlepath Street area of east Belfast.
Middlepath Street runs between the Queen Elizabeth II bridge over the Lagan to the junction with the Newtownards Road. It connects the M3 motorway to east Belfast.
Late this afternoon, Detective Sergeant David Kitchen said: “Officers attended the scene along with Ammunition Technical Officers who removed the suspected device for further forensic examination, which is being treated as viable.
“Temporary cordons in the area have been lifted – and no homes were evacuated during the public safety operation.
“Today we carried out a follow-up search in the area – thankfully, nothing untoward was located.
“We would, however, appeal to anyone with any information to contact us on 101, quoting reference number 1376 09/11/25 as our enquiries continue.
"You can also submit a report or information online using the non-emergency reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ .
“Or you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org/ .”