Military jet triggered loud noise that shook Paris, nearby areas
On Wednesday, a loud noise sent residents of Paris and nearby suburbs into a state of panic, but the French Police soon allayed fears by announcing that the sound was caused by a military jet and not an explosion. The noise was caused by a sonic boom as a jet broke the sound barrier, the police in France's capital said. Here are more details.
Don't call emergency phone lines: Paris Police
The Paris Police took to Twitter to confirm what triggered the noise. "A very loud noise was heard in Paris and in the Paris region. It was not an explosion, it was a fighter jet crossing the sound barrier," the tweet read. Residents were requested to not incessantly call the emergency services. Colonel Stéphane Spet, the spokesperson of Air Force, concurred as well.
The jet, reportedly a Rafale, was allowed to break barrier
The Defense Ministry said the jet was allowed to break the sound barrier and was tasked with assisting a commercial aircraft, which lost contact with air traffic control, reports AlArabiya. Reuters identified the jet as a Rafale. To note, when an aircraft moves faster than sound, the entire population under its path hears a resounding noise.
In fact, the French Open was also interrupted
The "boom" sound shook windows, made birds fly up, and also paused the French Open match between Stan Wawrinka and Dominik Koepfer for some time. Amid his service routine, Koepfer was shaken by the sound and stopped to understand what happened. He looked toward Wawrinka, who was equally perplexed. Residents also jumped to Twitter to make sense of the unexpected sound.
Here is a video from the match
Just last week, knife attack disturbed Paris, two were injured
The explosion sent Parisians to an edge, more so in wake of September 25's incident when a knife attack was reported near the former offices of Charlie Hebdo. Later, it was revealed that the attacker, Zaher Hassan Mahmood, who hails from Pakistan, wanted to set the building on fire. Assuming that the two people smoking outside the building were the magazine's employees, he lunged at them, leaving them with injuries.
Charlie Hebdo has frequently been attacked by Islamists
To recall, Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine known for its raunchy cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, faced its worst-ever attack in 2015 when two brothers opened fire during an editorial meeting. Two days later, a Jewish supermarket was attacked and a total of 17 people died in the three days of mindless violence. Recently, the much-awaited trial of those who helped the perpetrators began.
