The London Fire Brigade has denied social media speculation that a huge bang heard across north London was an unexploded Second World War bomb.
The boom was heard as firefighters were checking "suspected unexploded ordnance" in Camden.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) was called to Oval Road at 12.41pm to examine the item and a 500m cordon was put in place as a precaution.
But the brigade later said that the item was “declared safe”, with the incident ending for firefighters by 1.10pm.
The combination of the noise and the presence of emergency services caused confusion.
One Twitter user said: “A WW2 bomb has just gone off in the car park (Camden)”.
But the LFB later confirmed that “no explosion took place” and that “a loud noise reported in the area is believed to have been thunder”.
Firefighters assisted emergency services after a report of a suspected unexploded ordnance in #Camden. Following specialist examination, the item was declared safe and a cordon lifted. No explosion took place. A loud noise reported in the area is believed to have been thunder. https://t.co/8q2t7Xg0od
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) May 11, 2023
In a Twitter statement, LFB said: "Firefighters assisted emergency services after a report of a suspected unexploded ordnance in #Camden.
"Following specialist examination, the item was declared safe and a cordon lifted.
"No explosion took place. A loud noise reported in the area is believed to have been thunder."
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