Homeless man found dead in Belfast city centre
Forensic teams probing incident
Last updated 18th Jan 2019
Police are probing the death of a homeless man who was found dead in Belfast City Centre today (Friday)
It is understood the man is in his 30s and was found by a member of the Welcome street outreach team - a charity for the homeless.
It is not clear how he died.
Sandra Moore, Welcome's chief executive, said the workers who found the man were very upset.
"Working in this field is challenging at the best of times, but when you have to deal with a situation like this, it's so tragic,'' she said.
"The workers are shaken. The last thing they expected when they tried to rouse this young man was that he passed over.
"They had known this person, which makes it that bit more traumatic and personal.''
Ms Moore said about 80 individuals were known to be rough sleepers in Belfast, with about 25 on the streets at any one time. She said the majority were single young men.
"There is still something not right, this is one of the best cities in terms of homeless services, and being a small city, services work well together, but we obviously still haven't got it right,'' she said.
In terms of the wider issues, Ms Moore said there was a need for better resourced and more responsive drug and alcohol rehabilitation services, as well as greater efforts to address accommodation shortages.
North Belfast MLA Caral Ni Chuilin said: "No-one should ever have to sleep on the street, particularly in the cold weather.
"But sadly, over recent years, we have seen rising levels of homelessness around the city centre and across the north.
"Homeless charities have been doing great work but it is important that the Housing Executive and statutory bodies continue providing support to people sleeping on the street.
"My thoughts are with this man's family and friends at this difficult time.''
A PSNI spokesman said: "Police attended a report of a sudden death of a man at the High Street area of Belfast this morning.
"A post mortem is due to be carried out to establish the cause of death."
Forensic teams were carrying out an investigation for most of the morning after the man was found outside a shop in High Street.
The area is currently sealed off.
In a statement the PSNI said: "Police attended a report of a sudden death of a man at the High Street area of Belfast this morning (Friday).
"A post mortem is due to be carried out to establish the cause of death. Police enquiries are at an early stage and there are no further details at this time."