A taxi driver who drove a pipe bomb to safety in Strabane said his priority was to move the device “out of harm’s way.”
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Community worker Andy Gallagher said he put the pipe bomb in his car and drove it to an area of waste ground at Bradley Way.
The security alert began at around 8.30am on Thursday after a car window was smashed outside a house in Ballycolman Lane.
Mr Gallagher, who was passing the area, picked the object up from the vehicle.
The army bomb squad was called to examine the device while a nearby play area used by young children and a number of businesses were evacuated.
Mr Gallagher said he was not worried about his own safety but was concerned for people in the area.
"At that time of the morning, there are a lot of children going to school and many people going to the surgery for medical prescriptions", he told UTV.
"I saw the device; there were no wires or anything."
Police later confirmed it was a "viable" pipe bomb.
Area Commander Chief Inspector Andy Lemon said those who caused the alert are "totally irresponsible."
"Yet again elements felt the need to attack a member of the community. A window of a car was broken and a device thrown inside with the intention of causing damage or causing injury."
Police have urged members of the public not to remove suspicious objects.
"The device was lifted out by a member of the public and taken to waste ground."
"While those actions undoubtedly prevented a great deal more inconvenience than did take place, they are not something we normally recommend."
"Our advice to members of the public is that they should not handle suspicious objects but should report them to police," he said.
'Serious disruption'
Local SDLP councillor Eugene McMenamin has hit out at those responsible.
"Who is going to have the death of a child on their conscience before we see sense and desist from these disgraceful attacks?" he said.
According to the SDLP representative, serious disruption had been caused through a main arterial route of the town.
Speaking from the scene, Mr McMenamin said: "It's caused quite a bit of confusion and disruption and immediately, we have to ask, for what end this has happened.
"The device has been left near a car and it's obvious it was intended to cause harm and serious disruption."
He added: "There are a number of businesses - including a children's nursery play centre and the local bus depot - evacuated and after the initial fear, local feeling has quickly turned to anger that this has occurred in Strabane."
Alliance Justice Spokesperson Stephen Farry said: "I am disgusted that this is the fourth time this week that young children have been put at risk."
The Strabane alert came after Monday's pipe bomb attack in Antrim, in which an eight-year-old pupil at St Comgall's Primary School picked up the viable device.
The school had to be evacuated while the area was made safe.
A second school - St Joseph's on the Greystone Road in Antrim - was also evacuated on Monday after a telephone bomb warning. Nothing suspicious was found.
Meanwhile, Crumlin Integrated Primary School remained closed for a second day after a device was left inside the perimeter fence of a nearby unmanned PSNI station on Wednesday morning.
© UTV News