Army bomb squad officers have carried out at a controlled explosion at a school in North Belfast.
Witnesses say police, paramedics and firefighters were also at Belfast Royal Academy on the Cliftonville Road during the incident on Tuesday night. The incident is not a criminal matter, sources say.
A PSNI spokesman told Belfast Live: “Police attended a school in the North Belfast area to assist Ammunition Technical Officers safely dispose of a small amount of a chemical compound which had been stored in the premises. A controlled explosion was carried out and the material was safely destroyed.”
It is understood the incident is related to a compound known as 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine or 2,4-DNP.
During 2016/2017 bomb disposal teams were called to hundreds of schools across the UK in the wake of government advice about the potentially hazardous chemical.
The chemical is sometimes used in chemistry lessons and is safe if stored correctly, but can be dangerous if allowed to dry out.
Belfast Live reported in 2016 how a number of schools in Northern Ireland had been visited by Army ATO who had to deal with the chemical.
