Festival Mall has temporarily closed after an extremely severe rain and hailstorm struck the Kempton Park area last night, damaging sections of the shopping centre’s roof, mainly between Woolworths and Edgars.

According to a statement posted on Facebook, the centre was closed at the time of the storm, and no injuries were reported.

Security and management teams responded immediately and alerted the relevant authorities.

“Teams worked through the night to assess the extent of the damage and begin planning repair work to ensure the mall can reopen safely.”

Also read: No restoration time yet for widespread Kempton Park outage

“Safety is, and always remains, our top priority,” the mall said in a statement, adding that the centre will remain closed until it is certified safe to reopen.

Additional information will be communicated as updates become available.