Teenager raped in Belfast park

Two men who viciously raped and beat a teenage girl in a Belfast park yesterday evening were being hunted by police in Northern Ireland tonight.

The girl, in her late teens, was set upon while walking home through Woodvale Park in the north of the city in the pouring rain.

The men, thought to be aged in their late teens or early 20s, both raped the girl. Her ordeal was only stopped when a passer-by disturbed the attackers and a man took the girl to a nearby house, where the alarm was raised.

Police said the victim had been kicked in the face in the attack and had suffered cuts and bruises all over her body.

"She is very shocked and very violated," a police spokeswoman said. Chief Inspector Andrea McMullan said the girl had been walking home on Monday evening just after 5.30pm when she was set upon.

Chief Inspector McMullan added: "She was attacked by two males and viciously raped. She has bruising and cuts to near enough every part of her body.

"She has been kicked to the face and is very, very shaken up by this unprovoked attack. This was a brutal, horrendous and vicious attack. "She is terribly shocked and our heart must go out to her."

She appealed for anyone with information about the attack to come forward and help detectives track down the rapists.

The officer added that she did not want to create panic in the community, but warned there was the potential for further attacks until those responsible were caught.