The kettle had barely reached boiling point and the traffic yet to subside on Barrack Street when we had our first visitor through the door on Monday morning – fresher than a Sojourn scone!
‘The police have it wrong, there’s something they’re not telling us’.
In fairness, it wasn’t a claim we hadn’t been expecting, but when one resident made a point of making his point, we took the time to listen.
What police had wrong, in this resident’s opinion, was their explanation for the loud bang which caused quite a stir in Armagh on Friday night. Armagh I were alerted to something untoward by a number of residents, both at the time, and on Saturday morning. Some claimed it to be a pipe bomb. We checked in with police to find out if this loud noise had in fact been a pipe bomb in the Ballinahone area of the city.
Alas, it was a the result of a partial roof collapse in the area. Nothing to see here!
But that didn’t wash with many – or anyone – in the comments. There was no way that noise was made by a roof collapsing somewhere. There was something amiss…
The resident who paid our office a visit on Monday morning, understandably didn’t want his name mentioned; he argued that an entire house toppling over wouldn’t have made the noise he had heard. What’s more, he recovered suspected shrapnel from his front garden. He had photos to prove it…
Small metal fragments one Armagh residents claims is shrapnel from a pipe bomb which exploded near his home on Friday night.
He told us that police had visited the scene but left a short time later. We put the question to the PSNI again and asked for the location of the house where the roof had collapsed. Again, they reiterated that there were no reports of a pipe bomb but did not divulge where the roof had collapsed.
A loud noise was reported following the collapse of part of a roof at a house in the area. Police have not received any reports in relation to any explosions in the area, however, anyone who wishes to make a report can do so by calling 101, or contact their local Neighbourhood Policing Team.
The resident said he has made the Housing Executive aware of the incident. They were to look into the incident. We approached the Housing Executive to ask if this was the case. We await a response.
As for now, mystery continues to surround the origins of the loud noise. Apparent shrapnel and uncertainty over the location of the collapsed roof leaves a little room for doubt…
We’ll keep a close eye on this one.
PS. There was no apparent evidence of a pipe bomb in the area as we paid a visit ourselves, nonetheless, if you can help shed any light on this enigma, please feel free to drop us a line…
