Smoke from a fireworks display set up on a road right next to an elderly care home triggered the fire alarm system in the facility over the weekend, jolting residents out of their beds.

Police officers were seen at Dar l-Annunzjata in Tarxien late on Saturday night after the alarm went off.

The ground fireworks celebrating the feast of the Annunciation of Our Lady have traditionally been set up in the area on the outskirts of the village but were not held in the past two years due to COVID.

In the meantime, the once undeveloped land next to the road has been transformed into a 230-bed facility, which was officially opened in May 2021.

The family of one resident said that people were asleep at the time that the alarm went off at the care home.

Nobody was harmed but some residents are understood to have panicked.

Dar l-Annunzjata is the blue building on the left. Photo: Facebook, Għaqda tan-Nar San Gabriel Ħal Tarxien AD 1998

Footage of the fireworks was uploaded at around midnight on Saturday.

Villagers gathered to watch the colourful display.

Home director Mario Ellul would not confirm whether the alarms were set off but said an evacuation was not needed.

Asked if he thought the fireworks should be relocated elsewhere in the future, he said a risk assessment is carried out in cases like this. He gave no further comment.

While aerial fireworks cannot be let off within 500 metres of residential buildings, there are no such limitations on the proximity of ground fireworks to residential buildings.

Smaller aerial displays are allowed as close as 150 metres to houses.

A police spokesperson said this would have been a routine call, which happens whenever there is a notification of a fire alarm in such homes.

A police report would have been filed if anything untoward had happened, he added.

Tarxien mayor Joseph Abela Galea said he was not aware of the incident and had nothing to say about it.

Times of Malta attempted to contact the fireworks factory Għaqda tan-Nar San Gabriel Ħal Tarxien for their comments.

The care home, which is spread over seven floors, is on the outskirts of the village and overlooks three roads: Triq Tal-Barrani, Triq il-Palma and Triq Lorenzo Gonzi.