British army bomb experts are dealing with a series of security alerts in Belfast. Two hijackings that started bomb alerts in Belfast and Dunmurry have been declared hoaxes.
A total of seven bomb warnings have caused roads to be sealed off and traffic to be diverted acroos the city. The first alert began at 8 a.m. on the main Lisburn to Dunmurry road.
The police said a bus there had been hijacked earlier today and abandoned with a suspect package on board. The alert was later declared an elaborate hoax.
At 8.10 a.m., Annadale embankment in the south of the city was closed from King's Bridge to Sunnyside Street as a suspicious device was examined.
There have been further alerts through the morning at Queens Bridge and Shaw's Bridge, but nothing was found.
Bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion on a hijacked van left outside Grosvenor Road police station in west Belfast. They said it was a hoax.
At noon another security alert was declared around the Donegall Street in Belfast city centre.