Incident

witness the incident

There was a serious accident in the middle of town last night. The police have appealed for anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward.

report the incident

I saw some older boys bullying one of the first-year students. I felt I had to report the incident to the headmaster.

investigate the incident

The number of windows in our church were smashed at the weekend. Police are investigating the incident.

highlight the incident

Somebody walked out of the building yesterday with two of our computers. this incident highlights our needs to improve our security system.

occur the incident

A man was shot dead in the city centre last night. The incident occurred outside the Crown Hotel around three o’clock in the morning.

cause the incident

A French jet flew into Russian airspace and caused a major diplomatic incident.

report of an incident

There have been reports of an incident at the airport. the police are already at the scene.

investigation into the incident

Police said there would be a full and thorough investigation into the incident.

wake of the incident

Relations between the countries are strained in the wake of the latest cross-border incident.

knowledge of the incident

When she was accused of starting the fire, she denied all knowledge of the incident.

account of the incident

I gave the police a full and exhaustive account of the incident in the underground.

seriousness of the incident

Some of the older pupils were found with drugs. The headmaster has tried to play down the seriousness of the incident to save their reputation of the school.

whole incident

The yacht sank after it hit the pier. A tourist with a video camera caught the whole incident on film.

particular incident

What do you remember most about your days in the army?

> Well, apart from a lot of hard work, one particular incident sticks in my mind, but perhaps it is too unpleasant to talk about over dinner.

serious incident

There was a very serious incident involving a group of youths outside a pub in London late last night in which a number of people were badly injured.

isolated incident

We are sorry to hear that your money was a stolen while you wear a patient at this Hospital. We are sure this is an isolated incident as this is the first complaints of this Kind which we have received. I enclosed a cheque you for €20 to replace the money you lost.

major incident

News is coming in of a major incident involving two passenger trains in the South of India.

regrettable incident

The army said that the recent shelling of civilians was a regrettable incident and they wish to assure people that it will not happen again.

 

Notes

• Note the following expression:

Protesters threw eggs and tomatoes at the president, who was visibly shaken by the incident.

Mugging is becoming a serious problem. There have been countless incidents in recent months.

The alleged incident was said to have taken place in the office canteen.

Quick thinking by the police in keeping rival fans apart averted a serious incident.

• The expression ‘without incident’ means without any trouble:

The demonstrators were well-behaved and the protest passed without incident.