Emergency services have taken part in a major emergency training exercise in Dublin, to test how they would deal with a mass casualty terrorist attack.
Gardaí, firefighters, ambulance crews and members of the defence forces took part in the staged 'hostage situation' in the Dublin City University campus.
Crews taking part in the 'Operation Barracuda' exercise were responding to a staged incident in which a group of assailants attack bystanders and take a number of hostages.
The simulation involved over 50 actors and Garda recruits.
Photos from the scene showed crews attending to 'victims', with a significant number of vehicles also attending the scene.
Dublin Fire Brigade stressed that normal resources were not being used for the exercise.
End Ex, End Ex, End Ex.
The exercise in #DCU is now complete.
Thanks to everyone involved. Vehicles will be on scene for a time yet as we tidy up and hot-debrief.@gardainfo @ambulanceNAS @defenceforces @dublincityuni pic.twitter.com/pd4DqFls6C
— Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) November 16, 2018
TRAINING EXERCISE
We are currently carrying out a 'live' major emergency training exercise on DCU campus with @AmbulanceNAS
@defenceforces
@DubFireBrigade pic.twitter.com/m83gB1yW9I— Garda Info (@gardainfo) November 16, 2018
Officials say the exercise has now finished, with gardaí thanking the public for their cooperation during this evening's training.