Bomb damages Northern Ireland hotel; nobody hurt

LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland (AP) — Northern Ireland police say a bomb has detonated in the lobby of a Londonderry hotel, but a swift evacuation ensured that nobody was injured.

The device exploded early Friday inside the entrance to the Everglades, one of the longest operating hotels in Northern Ireland's second-largest city. Hotel staff said a masked man tossed the suspected bomb into the hotel, then fled. The bomb exploded as British Army experts were deploying a remote-controlled robot to defuse it.

No group has claimed responsibility, but police and politicians say Irish Republican Army hard-liners opposed to Northern Ireland's peace process are suspected. IRA factions are particularly active in Londonderry.

Most IRA members renounced violence and disarmed in 2005 after failing to force Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom.