Many in a certain part of Alicante feared that a bomb had gone off last Tuesday eveningwhen a huge explosion rocked an apartment block.What had happened was that a hut which is used by workmen who are building the AVE high speed rail link into Alicante,had exploded and caused the authorities to halt rail traffic as fire crews battled with the flames.
It is now thought that children set fire to scrubland in an area near the railway line and that this fire engulfed the hut in which there were containers of flammable fuel.The smoke from the explosion could be seen all over the city and initial reactions were to suspect a bomb.Rail traffic was suspended for almost two hours as firefighters not only tried to put out the burning fuels but also the scrubland.
Residents said that their apartment blocks shook with the blast and many thought that it was a bomb and that they would be evacuated from the zone.Once they knew that the likely cause was children playing,unsupervised ,with fireworks,then the situation calmed down.During fiestas many parents still allow their children access to fireworks without supervision .
