IKEA Fireworks Caused Blasts at Several Stores in Europe

Small explosions from booby-trapped products at three Ikea stores in Belgium, France and the Netherlands this week were caused by fireworks, the Swedish furniture giant said Tuesday.

The blasts Monday in stores in the western Belgian city of Ghent, Lille in northern France and Eindhoven in The Netherlands were caused by "small fireworks devices," Ikea spokeswoman Charlotte Lindgren told Agence France Presse.

Belgian authorities said Tuesday booby-trapped alarm clocks detonated by remote control had exploded in the Ghent store, and that the circumstances were similar in Eindhoven and Lille.

"We had not received any threats against Ikea at all," Lindgren said, stressing the blasts had left "a co-worker and a security person (suffering) from ear pains. Otherwise there are no injuries."

Lindgren said dogs had searched through Ikea stores overnight, and "all the stores will or have opened as usual this morning, all of them."

She refused to comment further on what security measures were being taken.

The explosions in stores in the Belgian city of Ghent, Lille in northern France and Eindhoven in The Netherlands caused no damage or injuries.

"The information we have is that the explosions happened the same way in all locations, with booby-trapped alarm clocks that had been hidden exploding," An Schoonjans, spokeswoman for Ghent prosecutors, told AFP.

In Ghent, an employee and a security agent complained of ear aches after two small explosions, which detonated almost simultaneously before the store closed Monday evening.