Not again: Car set ablaze on Malone Avenue as arson attacks continue

Residents of Malone Avenue were subject to a horrifying arson attack on a car extremely close to their home in the early hours of Friday morning.

Biochemistry student Tara Pouryahya was in bed when she was woken by a bang.

She says: “I thought it was just my housemate getting confused by the front door. A few minutes later she ran in and told me to get up, she had turned over in bed and saw flames right outside her window.

“This was around 3am, I phoned the fire brigade but someone had already done that. We left the house and waited for them to arrive.”

This fire follows a series of arson attacks in the Holylands area during Freshers when ten cars were set alight,  though police do not believe the attacks are linked.

When asked if she thought the car was deliberately targeted, Tara told us: “I don’t know if someone was trying to prove something or make a point.

“I’m just hoping everyone cools down now Halloween is over”

Meanwhile Holly Smyth was asked to leave her flat in the area by firemen due to the risk of the car backfiring.

The terrified Sociology and Criminology student said: “I woke up at half 3 and thought it was just some people messing about. Then I looked outside and there was a massive fire. We panicked obviously but then the firemen arrived.”

Holly added: “Our instinct was to get outside and stay there until they told us it was safe to go back in. We were outside for maybe 20 minutes.

“We were lucky our flat wasn’t damaged, there was smoke pouring in the front of the building. ”

Holly’s flatmate, Textile and Fashion student Nataly Gilliland, told us the fire wasn’t the only thing smoking.

She said: “The firemen were really hot.”

The shaken students added: “There are so many cars in this street that would have been easier to access. It’s a bit strange that they chose this one to set on fire.”

Police  have condemned the attack as “extremely dangerous” with “the potential to result in a fatality”.

A PSNI spokesman said: “At around 3.25am, police received a report that a car in the Malone Avenue area had been set alight. The fire spread from the car to a house, causing damage to the ground-floor window.

“It is believed that this fire was started deliberately.”

They have appealed for any witnesses to the attack to come forward.