News from around the county ‘Terror’ scare was smoke from oven
Panicked shoppers ran for their lives after a loud bang at Bluewater sparked terror attack fears.
The shopping centre’s food court was thrown into chaos when smoke was spotted after what sounded like a small explosion on Saturday afternoon.
A loudspeaker announcement urged people to leave the centre, with diners abandoning their belongings as they fled in fear.
But the bang and smoke had come from a cooker at Nando’s, causing two fire alarms to go off.
One mother in the food court with her children described the incident as “the most terrifying experience of our lives”. She wrote on Facebook: “The sheer panic on people’s faces was awful.”
She added: “Food was thrown everywhere, shopping left everywhere, baby prams tipped over, people literally running away fearing for their lives, kids screaming and crying, just awful.
“I have never seen my babies more scared in all their lives and pray they never have to feel like that again.
“And what was it that caused all this hysteria? A Nando’s oven.
“This is what our world has come to. An oven burning food, letting out a loud band and lots of smoke making people feel like they’re in the middle of a terrorist attack. Breaks my heart.”
A police spokesman said two fire alarms were activated shortly after 3.20pm due to a problem with a cooking unit at Nando’s and the centre had been evacuated as a safety precaution.
He added: “A loud bang caused many shoppers to rush to leave the building and there is a report of one person being injured.
“It is now known the noise was caused by a fire curtain being activated and slamming to the ground.
“The incident has been resolved and the centre is open for business as usual.”
Bluewater said safety of its shoppers was its highest priority.