DOZENS of police officers have been injured and two civilians seriously injured during fierce rioting across Belfast.

The disorder which began yesterday afternoon and continued into the evening, the most serious to have affected Northern Ireland in recent years, was sparked by the re-routing of a Protestant Orange Order parade.

During the riots, automatic weapons were fired at police, army vehicles burnt and blast bombs hurled at security forces.

One civilian was shot in the chest and it is believed the bullet exited through his neck, leaving him critically injured in hospital. A second man was taken to hospital after a blast bomb exploded in the Highfield area.

“I heard three bursts of automatic gunfire and saw the police and army scattering for cover,” a witness said. “The shots came from the loyalists in the Highfield estate.”

Hugh Orde, the Northern Ireland chief constable, blamed the Orangemen. “My officers and soldiers have come under sustained attack with missiles, pipe bombs, blast bombs, petrol bombs and shot at,” he said. “I have seen members of the Orange Order engaging with masked men. The army and police have returned live fire.”

Earlier, a number of children were shaken when their bus was hit with bottles and stones in North Queen Street in the north of the city. “Some children were screaming and yelling and others were just sitting with vacant looks in their eyes being comforted by their parents,” a passenger said.

Hundreds of rioters launched a sustained assault along the West Circular Road before a water cannon and plastic bullets were used to disperse the mob. Trouble also flared in the Short Strand and Grosvenor Road areas of the city.

Police confirmed six officers received blast bomb injuries while another six suffered minor wounds at just one scene.

The trouble was widely predicted. Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist leader, had said stopping the Orange march could be “the spark which kindles a fire there would be no putting out”.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• UK regional accents thrive against the odds
• ‘Scarecrow’ wind farms put rare birds to flight
• What an anti-climax: G-spot is a myth