Police in Kent have appealed against “panic” after the chaotic evacuation of Bluewater shopping centre left one person injured on Saturday.
The sudden closing of a fire curtain created a “loud bang” prompting shoppers and staff to flee.
The county’s force urged calm in a statement on Twitter, advising shoppers that the incident was caused by a fire alert.
It came after dozens of visitors on social media spoke of chaos as the incident unfolded just before 3.30pm.
Alison Moore said: “people [were] running through the centre screaming”.
Another person said they saw up to 60 people “screaming bomb”.
Kent Police confirmed to HuffPost UK that the incident was now over and was not terror related.
The shopping centre tweeted: “A fire alarm has been triggered at Nando’s, it’s currently being investigated by Kent Fire Service. We hope to be back to usual very soon.”
A spokesperson for the venue, which is home to hundreds of shops and restaurants, said later: “All is now back to normal.”
Kent Police said: “Kent Police has been made aware that Bluewater has now fully re-opened following an earlier fire alarm.
“Two fire alarms were activated at 3.23pm due to problem with a cooking appliance in a food outlet, which has now been resolved.
“Shoppers were evacuated by the centre as a safety precaution.
“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 that the bang was caused by a fire curtain being activated and slamming to the ground.
“Kent Police have attended and liaised with Kent Fire & Rescue and Bluewater management.
“The incident has been resolved and the centre is open for business as usual.
Kent Fire Service has yet to respond to a request for comment.