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Blasts cause alarm in south Spain Sonic booms rattle Spanish city
(about 2 hours later)
Two loud blasts have caused alarm in Malaga in southern Spain, though the cause was not immediately clear, with some media blaming aircraft. Two loud booms rattled windows and shook residents of Malaga in southern Spain before officials confirmed the cause as a low-flying plane, not bombs.
The noise was heard across the town and prompted office workers to run to their windows, local government officials told El Mundo newspaper. "It was very loud and it sounded like a bomb but it's a false alarm," a government spokesman said.
The alarm followed bomb attacks at the weekend blamed on Eta separatists. Media initially reported two "explosions", saying people had rushed to their windows and the mobile phone network went dead.
However, El Mundo and other media said the cause appeared to be one or two jets breaking the sound barrier. Northern Spain recently saw bomb attacks blamed on Basque militants.
The paper quoted government officials as saying there was no evidence of terrorist attack. However, police were mobilised. Conchita Vila, the owner of El Tubo bar in Malaga, said the noise had shaken her apartment.
The mobile phone system was reported to have failed shortly after the blasts were heard - though whether this was a direct result of the incident, or because of a sudden increase in calls, was not clear. "It scared me," she told the Associated Press.
"I live on the first floor and the whole house moved."
The reason for the jet flight was not clear. There are several Spanish military bases and an American air force base not far from Malaga.