Four people are being questioned by police following an assault on two tourists in Belfast city centre.
Two men were assaulted while walking in the Royal Avenue area at around 11pm last night.
Police said the tourists were punched and kicked repeatedly, and later they reported that they had also been subject to racist abuse.
Following the incident, a man aged 34, a man aged 28 and a woman aged 22 were arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm.
Another woman, aged 38, was arrested on suspicion of assault.
The PSNI said the matter is being treated as a racially-motivated hate crime.
Belfast Area Commander, Chief Superintendent Jeremy Lindsay, said: "Thankfully, at this stage we don’t believe that the men sustained serious injury. We’re grateful that our CCTV operators saw this assault in progress and we were able to get officers to the scene very quickly.
"It’s shameful that visitors to Belfast should be subject to such an attack.
"We have recently increased our patrols in Belfast City Centre and will continue to use these targeted patrols to help keep the city streets as safe as possible."
