Racially-motivated arson destroys grocery store on Belfast's Shankill Road

A grocery store due to open soon was gutted by a deliberate fire on north Belfast's Shankill Road. The Indian-born owner, uninsured, says his life savings are gone.

Grocery store gutted in hate-crime arson attack on Shankill Road

A grocery store that was due to open within months has been destroyed in a racially-motivated arson attack on the Shankill Road in north Belfast, bbc.com reports. The blaze, which started in the early hours of Saturday at a former Gospel Hall, left the building "totally gutted", according to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

The owner — who asked not to be named — is originally from India and has lived in Northern Ireland for 18 years. He purchased the building last year. With electrical work still under way, no insurance was in place at the time of the fire.

"My whole life investment is just gone on this," he said. "Everything is just gone and burnt out."

The fire service confirmed to police that the blaze had been caused by "deliberate ignition to the roof". Three fire appliances attended and left at approximately 05:00 BST.

Superintendent Finola Dornan said the building had been acquired by "legitimate business people who would have brought jobs to the local community." She added that the PSNI would provide the owner with supervision, investigation and support, as it does with "any crime motivated by hate."

"We do not underestimate the impact hate-related crimes have on victims, their families and wider communities," Dornan said. She also noted that preventing hate crime is "a wider societal issue which cannot be resolved by policing alone."

DUP assembly member for North Belfast Brian Kingston described the attack as "utterly appalling." He said the former church building had been closed for around five years and that no buyer had come forward until the current owner stepped in.

"There are many people seeking to regenerate the Shankill Road, to bring derelict buildings back into use," Kingston told BBC News NI. "This totally undermines this work. Those responsible have done a great disservice to this community."

Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey said the perpetrators "do nothing but damage their own communities," adding that targeting a business because of who owns it is "despicable, especially when areas are crying out for jobs and investment."

North Belfast councillor Carl Whyte, from the SDLP, called the attack "devastating." He said bags of food were still sitting in the doorway when he visited the scene.

"The owners and staff were providing a service to the community and have much more to offer than those who have targeted their business," Whyte said.

No arrests have been reported. The PSNI investigation is ongoing.

Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)