Families in Belfast, including one with a two-month-old baby, are counting the cost of Tuesday night’s violence after being forced to flee their homes in the face of fires.
A number of houses were ablaze across the city after a night of disorder amid following a knife attack on Monday night.
One man, whose home of 13 years was destroyed by fire, said watching it burn down was “a feeling I’ll never get over”.
Jamie Corrie, speaking outside the burnt out remains of his house on Lendrick Street in east Belfast, said by the time firefighters arrived his house was “already engulfed in flames”.
His house caught fire after a car belonging to “foreign nationals” next door was set on fire, he said.
Corrie, who has lived on the same east Belfast street for more than a decade, said his house went up in flames.
Speaking to BBC News NI outside his home on Wednesday morning, he said he was “gutted”.
“I told them before they were lighting the car, I said ‘this is my property’.
“See standing there watching your house get burnt… that’s a feeling I’ll never get over,” he says.
While he is also angry about the attack in north Belfast, he asked: “What does this resolve? What does this actually do? Burning cars out, wrecking your own community and now one of their own has just lost their home.”
He said by the time firefighters arrived his house was “already engulfed in flames” and everything is destroyed.
“There’s stuff in there that’s sentimental, can’t be replaced, that you’ll not get again.”
However, he’s thankful his kids were not in the house at the time.
Yura, 19, is part of the Ukrainian family who were forced to flee their home on Lendrick Street in east Belfast during the disorder. She described the scenes last night as “terrifying”.
“My neighbour’s house was set on fire. So, my front door caught the fire a bit. It had to be kicked out to stop the fire because it was about to go in the house”.
“I was with my dog at the house, so I had to escape through the back door. My neighbour’s dog was trapped in the house so we were also trying to break into their house to get the dog.
“I was lucky that my friends live nearby, so they let me crash for the night.”
Anselme Shima, who for 13 years has lived in east Belfast near where scenes of violence erupted on Tuesday night, said he was devastated and horrified.
“I didn’t know what I can do to protect my children.”
Also worried about the night of violence are healthcare staff.
Biji Jose, from the Northern Ireland Indian Nurses Forum, has been living in Northern Ireland for 23 years.
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She’s a senior nurse and is worried her colleagues from the Indian community may decide to leave Northern Ireland in the aftermath.
She said junior colleagues have been in touch about the recent violence and are “really worried” about their safety.
“At the minute, I can see very anxious faces and too much worry about their families, children, future jobs, insecurity about walking around the street freely like before,” she said.
“People sometimes think about we are here to come to take their job. No, it is not the way,” Jose added, saying healthcare workers were among the most needed employees in Northern Ireland.
“We are filling the workforce shortage and easing the waiting lists for procedures, because of our relentless, selfless, kind services supporting the community to get the proper care on time.”
‘We’re leaving right now’
Another man who is originally from India and now lives in north Belfast has decided to leave Northern Ireland after Tuesday night’s violence.
“We’re leaving right now,” he told BBC News NI.
The man, who doesn’t want to be named, said he “didn’t sleep all night”.
“It was horrible. It was like a war zone.”
“Everything was burning,” he said, adding that glass was smashed and everyone hide in their homes.
“No one was coming out, people were so scared.”
The man has lived in the UK for 25 years, the last four in Northern Ireland.
The co-owner of a Turkish barber shop has said he is deeply saddened that their business was targeted during disorder in Ballyclare, County Antrim.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback programme, Ozer Soy-Suren said the shop has been open for 20 years and that staff spent the morning cleaning up damage caused the previous night.
“We knew the protest was going to happen, so we left a little early to get home and keep ourselves safe,” he said.
Soy-Suren said the local community have been supportive, with a steady stream of people visiting the shop to check on staff.
‘Absolutely petrified’
On Tuesday night Pastor Jack McKee, who was helping people on the Crumlin Road, north Belfast who had been affected, said some of those he was assisting were members of his church “who have been with us for 20 years”.
“They’re good Christian people and they’re getting put out just because they’re black,” he said.
“I’m doing my best to help them.”
Following the attack that sparked both peaceful protests and disorder, Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old originally from Sudan, appeared in court charged with attempted murder over an attack that caused serious injuries to the victim, including a lost eye.
Meanwhile the family of the victim, Stephen Ogilvy, has appealed for “peaceful protest as the only way forward”.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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