FOUR people have been arrested after two tourists were reportedly subjected to racist abuse during an assault in Belfast.
The incident happened in the Royal Avenue area of the city centre at around 11pm last night.
Police described the incident as 'shameful', adding that the matter is being treated as a racially-motivated hate crime.
CCTV operators observed two men, later established to be tourists visiting the area, walking in the Royal Avenue area at around 11pm.
They were then subjected to an unprovoked assault by two men and two women.
The two tourists were punched and kicked repeatedly and later reported that they had also been subjected to racist abuse.
Due to enhanced police patrols in the city centre, officers were in the immediate area and were able to attend the scene straight away.
Two men, aged 34 and 28, and a 22-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm, while a 38-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The four remain in police custody.
'Shameful'
"Thankfully, at this stage we don't believe that the men sustained serious injury," said Chief Superintendent Jeremy Lindsay.
"We're grateful that our CCTV operators saw this assault in progress and we were able to get officers to the scene very quickly.
"It's shameful that visitors to Belfast should be subject to such an attack.
"We have recently increased our patrols in Belfast City Centre and will continue to use these targeted patrols to help keep the city streets as safe as possible.
"We meet regularly with partner agencies, local representatives and members of the community and we remain committed to working alongside them to address community concerns, including anti-social behaviour and drugs criminality.
"Police will robustly address any criminal activity and welcome the opportunity to engage with those who wish to tackle criminality in the local community.
"We would encourage anyone affected by any criminal activity to contact police in order to enable us to take action."
See More: Belfast
