Anti-immigration protesters have torched buildings and vehicles in the capital of Northern Ireland, a day after a knife attack was captured in a graphic video.

Hundreds of protesters, many of them masked, gathered at several locations across Belfast on Tuesday evening. A bus and several cars were set alight, while a building on the edge of the city centre caught fire and its residents had to be evacuated.

Police helicopters patrolled above the city, and shops closed early.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the initial knife attack, which took place in north Belfast late on Monday evening, as “sickening”.

The attack comes at a time of heightened tensions in the United Kingdom following the murder of a student who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer falsely alleged a racist attack.

It also follows repeated protests over immigration, with populist parties saying the UK’s asylum policy has allowed dangerous men into the country. There was anti-immigration rioting in Northern Ireland last year amid anger over an alleged sexual assault.

Immigration has become a highly charged political issue and has helped fuel the rise of the hard-right Reform UK and Restore Britain parties in opinion polls.

Northern Ireland’s political leaders and the region’s chief constable have urged people not to incite hate and fear or target particular communities.