Shock as blaze sweeps through multi-cultural centre
A Belfast community group has been left “heartbroken” and “shocked” after a fire engulfed its building on Thursday night.
More than 50 fire crews and seven fire appliances attended the blaze at the Multi-Cultural Association’s centre at around 8.30pm.
Crews brough the flames under control using breathing apparatus, jets and high reach appliances.
No one was inside the building when the fire started and there were no injuries reported.
Police investigations are ongoing to establish whether it was started deliberately.
In a statement on Facebook, the association said it had been on the “receiving end of a lot of hostility and Islamophobia for years''.
The post read: “We are immensely grateful to the fire services who were there promptly, and we look forward to hearing from the investigations that will follow.
“We are heartbroken and shocked by these events, but it will not deter us from any of our work: our volunteers despite shaken are determined not to let down the communities we support.
“Thank you to everyone who have been in contact to check up on us and extended their support and solidarity.
“We are immensely grateful for it all.''
Vehicles belonging to people working at the centre have been previously vandalised in hate crime incidents.
The building had been used as a food bank, with volunteers distributing packages to vulnerable people during the Covid-19 pandemic.