ONE of the main arterial routes into Derry city centre remained closed throughout yesterday following the discovery of a suspect device.
Thirteen properties were evacuated at Fahan Street after the device was found in a passageway leading to Joseph Place in the city’s Bogside.
A police spokesman said Fahan Street was closed at both ends while ammunition technical officers (ATO) attended the scene of the alert which was reported shortly after 11am.
Derry City and Strabane Area Commander, Chief Superintendent Ryan Henderson said: "First of all, I want to thank the local community for their patience and understanding during the course of this protracted security operation, in particular every resident who has been affected.
"Our primary aim ... is to keep our community safe. However, I understand the security operation has caused, and continues to cause significant disruption, but it is required in order to keep people safe.
"We will endeavour to work through this situation as quickly as we can and get people back into their homes, but everyone's safety is our top priority and we will not take any risks with that."
SDLP councillor Brian Tierney said the incident had caused significant disruption.
“We are sick of incidents like this interrupting the lives of our community and I’d ask anyone with information to come forward to police as soon as possible," he said.
