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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Alert and robberies may be linked | Alert and robberies may be linked |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Police are investigating whether a hoax bomb scare was created by burglars to rob several houses in east Belfast. | |
| A number of homes in the Cumberland Road area of Dundonald were ransacked while residents were evacuated in the early hours of the morning. | A number of homes in the Cumberland Road area of Dundonald were ransacked while residents were evacuated in the early hours of the morning. |
| The houses were entered between midnight and 0100 BST after a suspicious stolen car was abandoned in the street. | The houses were entered between midnight and 0100 BST after a suspicious stolen car was abandoned in the street. |
| "A possible link to the alert is one line of enquiry," said the PSNI. | "A possible link to the alert is one line of enquiry," said the PSNI. |
| During the alert, Army technical experts were called at about 1000 BST on Saturday and the area was evacuated. | |
| The security alert was declared a hoax and when the residents returned, they realised that at least eight homes had been broken into. | |
| Jewellery, keys and other goods were stolen. | |
| 'Left out in rain' | |
| One man, who did not want to be identified, said residents were furious that the burglars were able to break into their homes while the police were standing close by. | |
| "We believe it was an elaborate set-up to burgle Cumberland Road," he said. | |
| "Elderly people were left out in the rain for four hours. | |
| "I don't know what these people think they are doing - we are only working-class people struggling to pay mortgages. | |
| "These people come here, thinking they can just walk in, burgle people's houses and get lots of stuff." | |
| Police appealed to anyone who witnessed the stolen silver Toyota Carina being abandoned in Cumberland Drive, or its occupants, to contact them. | Police appealed to anyone who witnessed the stolen silver Toyota Carina being abandoned in Cumberland Drive, or its occupants, to contact them. |