Teenage girl needs facial surgery after being hit with debris from hijacked burning car

A teenage girl is undergoing surgery after being hit in the face with debris from a burning car during street disorder in Londonderry.

Moments earlier, the owner of the car had been dragged from his vehicle by hijackers who struck him in the head before setting his vehicle on fire.

These were just two of many violent incidents during a night of disturbances in the city’s Galliagh area.

The trouble erupted after bonfire material was removed from public land. Local youths had been gathering the material for several weeks.

It was being stored on a grass parkland owned by the Department for Communities.

Contractors were employed to take the material away, and the youths reacted violently.

Petrol bombs were thrown at a community centre, and buses, cars and delivery vehicles were targeted.

Tyres, wooden pallets, and wheelie bins were set alight on roads.

By dawn, the crowds had dispersed, but the damage to the Galliagh area remains.

Local councillor Sandra Duffy (Sinn Féin) says: “This was an attack on our community and our community services, and none of what happened last night is acceptable in our society.”

The city’s police commander, Chief Superintendent Nigel Goddard said: "What we saw unfold in Galliagh from late yesterday through to the early hours of this morning was both disappointing and worrying. "This type of criminal activity should be condemned by all. Attacking and damaging vehicles and properties only serves to damage the community. It is wrong.”There are appeals for calm, with local politicians seeking to engage with the youths responsible to avoid any further disorder.

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