Police blast water cannons at Belfast protesters as unrest flares again after stabbing

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Police blasted water cannons Wednesday at protesters in Northern Ireland who set small fires and hurled bricks, rocks and bottles at them during a second night of violence over a brutal stabbing on a Belfast street.

Demonstrators wearing masks tore bricks from the walls outside homes and smashed sidewalks with sledgehammers to toss at riot police. In one place, the unruly crowd used sections of a dismantled picket fence to take cover on the street.

The clashes with police came several hours after a 30-year-old man from Sudan appeared in a Belfast court charged with attempted murder in a stabbing attack that left a man seriously injured and triggered anti-immigrant violence.

Hadi Alodid, 30, was ordered held in jail after appearing by video in Belfast Magistrates’ Court, where a detective said he blinded Stephen Ogilvie in the left eye during the knife attack. He was also charged with possessing a knife and threatening to kill a radiographer while being treated for a hand injury after the assault.

When police arrived at the crime scene, they found Alodid on the man, armed with a kitchen knife, the detective said. Alodid later told hospital staff: “I’ve killed someone, I don’t know if they are dead,” and said, “I will kill you."

He refused legal representation through an Arabic interpreter and did not enter a plea.

Police were prepared for more violence after masked men on Tuesday set fire to several homes they believed to house immigrants, burned trash bins, torched a Belfast bus and pelted police with objects.

Firefighters rescued several people from burning houses and more than two dozen people were left homeless.

Anselme Shima, a Belfast resident originally from Congo, said he saw smoke from burning vehicles near his home.

“I’ve lived on my street for almost 10 years, I have a good relationship with my neighbors, but last night was a horrific one,” he said. “We don’t know what to do. I’m scared. Seeing this, I’m wondering if I’m next.”

Families, one with a baby, were rescued and taken to police stations for safety, Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said.

“These weren’t just families from ethnic minority communities, these were families from across communities that were caught up in this vile behavior last night," Boutcher told the BBC. “There is absolutely no excuse for it.”

Boutcher said 200 more officers would be on the streets Wednesday and the PSNI was calling in support from other forces. Bus and train operators in Belfast said they would stop services early because of expected protests.

Ogilvie’s family appealed for an end to the violence and said migrants “make a deeply valuable contribution to our country.”

“We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility,” the family said in a statement.

Politicians from both parts of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government condemned the violence. First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein said it was “thuggery.”

“Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice,” she said.

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, said that “taking frustration at the evil actions of a person out on those who had no part in it is utterly wrong.”

Monday’s attack, caught in video footage that quickly spread on social media, was seized on by anti-immigration activists. Ogilvie, a man in his 40s, was hospitalized with deep cuts to his head, face and back.

Police said Alodid entered Northern Ireland from the neighboring Republic of Ireland in 2023, applied for asylum and was given a five-year permit to remain.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said there is no information to suggest the attack was terrorism-related.

Protests were encouraged online by far-right activists, and the street violence erupted despite politicians' calls for calm.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the stabbing attack as “sickening,” but said violence against people based on their background would not be tolerated.

“The scenes in Belfast last night were shocking and completely unacceptable," Starmer said on X. “There is no justification for the violence and disorder that we saw threatening our communities, nor for those who encouraged it, online or elsewhere.”

Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said social media agitators who “yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map” were “weaponizing” the fears of local people.

“If you’re driving people from their homes based on nothing but the color of their skin, you can’t dress that up any other way, it’s racism, and those bad faith actors need to take a step back,” she told the BBC.

Some politicians said the stabbing should spark a review of the open border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland.

The border is a highly sensitive issue. Allowing the free flow of people is a major pillar of the peace process that largely ended decades of violence known as “The Troubles.” The conflict involving Irish Republican and British Loyalist militants and U.K. security forces left almost 3,600 people dead before a 1998 peace accord.

Much of Tuesday’s violence took place in working-class areas where former paramilitary groups still hold considerable sway over the streets.

Last week a separate case of a university student who was stabbed to death in Southampton, England, in December was seized on by activists and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who blamed immigration for the violence, an idea rejected by Starmer and other British politicians.

Henry Nowak, who was white, was killed by Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh who falsely claimed to police that he was the victim of a racist assault by Nowak. When police officers arrived, they initially treated the wounded Nowak as a suspect before noticing his injury and trying to resuscitate him.

Digwa was convicted of murder and sentenced last week to life in prison with a minimum 21-year term. A protest over Nowak’s death turned violent, with some attacking police with chairs and rocks. Several people were charged with violent disorder.

Lawless reported from London. Brian Melley contributed to this story.

Police fire a water cannon towards rioters after they set fire to wheelie bins and removed a garden fence to use as a shield against the water cannon in Newtownabbey, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday June 10, 2026. (PA via AP)

Jamie Corrie stands beside his burnt out house after rioting broke out late Tuesday, in east Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, following a stabbing incident. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Vehicles set on fire by protesters burn on Lendrick Street in east Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, after the arrest of a Sudanese man accused of stabbing a man in the northern part of the city. (PA via AP)

People watch as firemen arrive to put out vehicle that was set alight during a protest in East Belfast following a stabbing incident in Belfast, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

This is a court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of Sudanese national Hadi Alodid, 30 appearing via videolink at Belfast Magistrates Court, Belfast, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, after a stabbing attack. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP)

A worker clear up the debris in front of a burnt out bus, after rioting broke out late Tuesday, in east Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, following a stabbing incident. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

A woman walks past burnt out houses after rioting broke out late Tuesday, in east Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, following a stabbing incident. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

People watch as a vehicle burns during a protest following a stabbing incident in North Belfast, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

A building is set light to by protesters in central Belfast following a stabbing incident in Belfast, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Masked protesters stand by burning trash containers on Ligoniel Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, after the arrest of a Sudanese man accused of stabbing a man in the northern part of the city. (PA via AP)

Police vehicles come under attack from protesters following a stabbing incident in Belfast, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Vehicles set on fire by protesters burn on Lendrick Street in east Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, after the arrest of a Sudanese man accused of stabbing a man in the northern part of the city. (PA via AP)

HONG KONG (AP) — An independent committee investigating the cause of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades heard arguments on how improper practices that evaded regulatory oversight turned a small fire into a tragedy as the case neared its conclusion Friday.

The November blaze spread through seven buildings of an apartment complex, killing 168 people and displacing thousands of residents at Wang Fuk Court in the suburban Tai Po district. Many of the residents now live in temporary housing.

Committee lead lawyer Victor Dawes said the use of non-fire-retardant scaffolding netting was very likely a key reason for the fire's rapid spread at the complex, which was undergoing a major renovation project when the blaze started. Having wooden planks boarding up staircase windows caused plumes of smoke in residents’ escape routes, he said.

He said Will Power Architects Company, a consultancy, and Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., the main contractor on the project, cut corners in the work and the materials, in addition to deceiving regulators and homeowners, he said. Various substandard and improper practices were involved, including faked compliance of inspections. Certain professionals responsible for inspections signed documents like a “rubber stamp," he said.

Dawes also criticized the government’s reliance on an honor system in overseeing the project, saying relevant departments should bear responsibility.

“When faced with dishonest bad actors, the entire system collapsed,” he said.

Several residents wept during the hearing that was concluded Friday.

On Thursday, Lawyer Jenkin Suen, representing the government, acknowledged some systemic vulnerabilities but said it would be unfair to say government departments were the instigators of the fire. Some professionals and contractors abused a mechanism that aimed to protect the public and betrayed the trust placed in them, he said.

Jeffrey Tam, a lawyer for nine residents of the Wang Fuk Court, noted some residents decided to give evidence despite being distressed by the tragedy.

“But we heard some witnesses appear that they just wanted to to be shirking responsibility," he said. “So sometimes I also understand why they could not hold back their anger."

He added deflecting responsibility like this would not help the city find out the truth.

The investigating committee led by High Court judge David Lok is expected to give recommendations after reviewing the fire’s cause, potential systemic problems and whether existing regulations and penalties are sufficient. When the committee's findings will be released is not known.

But its scope of work does not include possible legal liabilities, which will be handled by law enforcement authorities.

Last month, Hong Kong authorities charged seven people and two companies in June with offenses including manslaughter and conspiracy to defraud over the fire. The companies include Will Power and Prestige Construction & Engineering Co.

Yip Ka-kui, a family member of a victim of Tai Po fire, looks on following the closing submissions at the hearing of an independent committee investigating last year's Tai Po fire, in Hong Kong, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/May James)

Patrick Liu speaks to the media following the closing submissions at the hearing of an independent committee investigating last year's Tai Po fire, in Hong Kong, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/May James)

Jenkin Suen, counsel for the Hong Kong government leaves for a lunch break following the closing submissions at the hearing of an independent committee investigating last year's Tai Po fire, in Hong Kong, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/May James)

Lee Kwok-hung, speaks to the media following the closing submissions at the hearing of an independent committee investigating last year's Tai Po fire, in Hong Kong, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/May James)

Yip Ka-kui, a family member of a victim of Tai Po fire, looks on following the closing submissions at the hearing of an independent committee investigating last year's Tai Po fire, in Hong Kong, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/May James)

Tony Tsui Moon-come, former chairperson of the management committee of the Incorporated Owners of Tai Po Wang Fuk Court, arrives for the closing submissions at the Independent Commission investigation hearing into last year's Tai Po deadly fire, in Hong Kong, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/May James)

Members of Independant Commission team arrives for the closing submissions at the Independent Commission investigation hearing into last year's Tai Po deadly fire, in Hong Kong, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/May James)

Member of the public arrives for the closing submissions at the Independent Commission investigation hearing into last year's Tai Po deadly fire, in Hong Kong, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/May James)

David Lok, chairman of the Independent Committee, arrives for the closing submissions at the Independent Commission investigation hearing into last year's Tai Po deadly fire, in Hong Kong, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/May James)

Jenkin Suen, counsel for the Hong Kong government, arrives for the closing submissions at the Independent Commission investigation hearing into last year's Tai Po deadly fire, in Hong Kong, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/May James)