Photo via: Screenshot from video
Sandton City evacuated: Bomb threat received at Joburg mall on Saturday
Shopperers and tenants at Sandton City were evacuated after a bomb threat was received via telephone on Saturday, 24 April at 17:35
Photo via: Screenshot from video
A bomb threat at Sandton City in Johannesburg led to evacuations on Saturday evening, 24 April 2021.
SANDTON CITY EVACUATED
Sandton City management confirmed that a telephonic bomb threat was received at 17:45 on Saturday.
“The safety and security of shoppers and tenants is of the utmost importance to Sandton City, and all security protocols have been put in place,” said management in a tweet.
Management decided to evacuate buildings with immediate effect and said the South African Police Service (SAPS) and emergency services were monitoring the situation closely. Police K9 and Bomb Disposal units are reportedly at the scene.
At 21:18, the centre management released another update, via a series of tweets, that said SAPS and the Bomb Disposal unit had given “the all-clear” and normal trading would resume. Patrons who left their vehicles at the shopping centre during the evacuation were instructed on how to retrieve their property on Sunday.
SHOPPERS SHARED THE EVACUATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA
According to first-hand accounts on Twitter from people who claimed to be in the vicinity, patrons rushed to exit the building and traffic in the area was congested.
Twitter user, @khani_hlahla, who in an earlier tweet said “[he’s] never ran this much” criticised Sandton City’s evacuation procedure.
“You need to work on your evacuation management, that was disastrous,” he said.
Another Twitter user, @thulasindi, however, complimented the evacuation procedure, saying management was very proactive.
“Was so quick and well coordinated effort by the security team,” he said.
This is a developing story.
