Pipe bombers branded ‘reckless’ after attack forces families to flee
CHILDREN were forced to flee their homes on Saturday night after a pipe bomb exploded in Craigavon just yards from where they were sleeping.
The device was thrown at an end-terraced property in the Enniskeen area just before 11.30pm.
A woman and young children were in the house at the time but escaped uninjured.
Residents in two rows of houses had to be evacuated and search for accommodation elsewhere while army bomb disposal experts attended the lower part of the housing estate.
A second device which didn’t go off was found when the bomb disposal experts arrived at the scene a short time later.
Police have described the attack as “reckless” and DUP MLA
Carla Lockhart said her thoughts were with those affected.
One mother told the Belfast Telegraph she had to flee her home with her four-year-old twins and couldn’t return until 6am yesterday morning.
“There was a really loud bang and I thought nothing of it,” she said.
“Residents around here then phoned the police.
“Cops came about one o’clock in the morning, woke us up and told me I’d to lift the kids and evacuate the house.
“We had to then go to my mum’s house.”
Wojkek Charzewski (21) has been living in Enniskeen for five years with his mother and father.
After Saturday night’s explosion, he said: “I was just sitting in my room and I heard a big bang.
“I was thinking it was a firework first of all. Then at around 1am, the police knocked the door and basically they said we had to go to a safe place.”
Although the cordon had been removed to allow homeowners back into their properties yesterday, some officers remained in the area.
The PSNI has appealed for anyone in Enniskeen with information to come forward by calling 101.