HUNDREDS of shoppers were left in a frenzy on Sunday afternoon after they were quickly evacuated following a bomb scare at Glen Balad Mall.
The mall, owned by the AJP Group, received a call from the police at about 12.30pm.
John Philippou, Director at Shared Services, spoke to EXPRESS on behalf of shopping centre management.
“After receiving the call from the police, we immediately informed the centre’s security company, who then quickly made sure all our customers and tenants evacuated the building,” Philippou explained.
The bomb threat was also posted on a community Facebook page, Kemptonparkers, and had over 80 comments from people who also posted that some of them had family members at the mall when it happened, and others were there themselves.
One woman said her children were at the mall at Pick n Pay Clothing and told her they “heard people screaming and saying ‘get out and run'”.
According to other comments, a large crowd of people could be seen standing in the parking lot, others desperately trying to get into their cars and drive off. Others, who had left some of their belongings inside the building, remained behind.
About 15 minutes later, the police’s bomb squad had arrived at the scene and conducted thorough investigations until about 3.15pm. By 3.30pm, the shopping centre was re-opened to the public.
“The prime concern of management is customer safety, ensuring all our shoppers were secure. We also conducting a further safety check to make sure no one was left in the building,” Philippou said.
According to the PHS COPS Facebook page, the security company received a phone call informing them about the bomb scare at the mall.
“PHS COPS reaction units and area manager immediately went to assist and we assisted in evacuating the mall, ensuring all shoppers are safe and out of the building. Luckily no bombs were found and the centre was declared safe by the SAPS Bomb Unit,” the statement on the page read.
The company also thanked GM2 CPF, Norkem Park CPF, Kempton Park CPF, SAPS, Ekurhuleni Emergency Services and ER24 for assisting during the emergency situation.
