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A murder investigation has been launched after a young woman was killed following a night of rioting in Londonderry in Northern Ireland, Euronews reports.

Police are describing it as a “terrorist incident”. Some reports, as yet unconfirmed, suggest the 29-year-old was a journalist covering the violence.

Shots were fired and petrol bombs thrown during the unrest in the Creggan area of the city, which nationalists often refer to as Derry.

Tensions have reportedly been building up ahead of Easter. Many Irish Republicans commemorate the armed insurrection against British rule in 1916 that became known as the Easter Rising.

Journalist Leona O’Neill tweeted to say that she had been beside the victim when she fell, and called an ambulance but the woman died later in hospital. “Just 29 years old. Sick to my stomach tonight,” the reporter said.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton confirmed the woman’s death, saying it had followed shots being fired. “We are treating this as a terrorist incident and we have launched a murder enquiry,” he said on Twitter.

The killing has been condemned across the political divide.

Dissident Republicans are being blamed for the violence, which reportedly followed warnings of potential disorder over the Easter anniversary.

In January a car bomb was detonated in Londonderry outside a court building. No-one was hurt. A group calling itself the “IRA” later said it had planted the device.

Some groups still oppose the peace process, 21 years after the Good Friday Agreement was struck between the British and Irish governments and most political parties in Northern Ireland.