Police try to explode persistent bomb talk

SHANGHAI: Police were busy Friday trying to dispel a widespread rumor that a bomb had been found in a roadside garden in the city's Luwan district.

Officers called upon to deal with the mystery object said it was "a shoebox containing sand", but witnesses later claimed to have heard "an explosive sound, like that of fireworks" and talked about having seen wires attached to a cell phone.

"Many people heard that sound, though it was not very loud," said a man surnamed Huang, who lives near the intersection of Changle Road and South Shaanxi Road, where the object was found.