Stones thrown at firefighter crews responding to call-out in Belfast

A firefighter has been injured after stones were thrown at crews responding to a call-out in Belfast.

It happened shortly after 8pm on Monday night on the Suffolk Road in the City.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) received reports that an electric box was on fire and sent two appliances to the scene.

When the crews arrived youths threw stones, cutting a firefighter's nose and breaking two windows in a fire appliance vehicle.

Crews had to withdraw from the area for safety reasons at 8:26pm.

In a statement, the NIFRS said: "Our Firefighters are here to keep the community safe.

"This attack was senseless, and we are calling on the community to support us by not attacking our Firefighters," the statement added.

"Every time someone attacks our firefighters, they are making their own community less safe.

"We are aware that this sort of behaviour comes from a small minority of people.

"People deserve to feel safe in their communities and we will continue working closely with community groups, statutory agencies and elected representatives to try and prevent attacks like this from happening again."