Two hundred dead birds have fallen from the sky in a bizarre phenomenon, with officials launching an investigation to find out what might have caused it.
The starlings plummeted down on locals in Ferrol, north-western Spain, on November 26 at around 9am.
Local media said the dead birds hit cars and people outside the Juan Cardona Hospital, although police confirmed there were no injuries.
Mapi Rodríguez, president of the local resident association, said: "They came out of the trees in the emergency area of the hospital, flew a few metres and plummeted to the pavement.
"The birds have been collected and we are now waiting to find out what happened.
"We are told it won't be easy."
Out of the hundreds of birds which fell, two have been taken by a regional environment agency for analysis, with Ferrol City Council also joining in on the investigation.
A similar event took place earlier this year in nearby Tarragona when hundreds of birds fell from the sky due to toxic chemicals which had been released by a petrochemical plant in the area.
Starlings are known to fly in large synchronised groups, so if the cause of the mass deaths in Ferrol was of a similar nature, the amount of birds falling would make sense – but, as yet, no cause or reason for the incident has been given.
One rumour in local media is that they were electrocuted on a nearby powerline, but this has not been confirmed.
The hospital itself is located just on the edge of the Ria de Ferrol river, which bleeds out into the Bay of Biscay.
It is also located near a university, supermarket and a metropolitan area – but nothing which would release dangerous chemicals into the sky – according to a search on Google Maps.
There is also a local park next door, called the Residencia Mista de Mairoes, which is why much of the local wildlife can be found, according to local sources.
