Sandton City Evacuation Drill Sparks Rumours of Bomb Threat, GM Rubbishes Claims

• Sandton city shopping centre held an evacuation drill on Friday morning
• The drill sparked rumours of a bomb threat that were spread wildly through social media
• The commotion comes after the US Embassy in South Africa warned of a possible terrorist attack

JOHANNESBURG - When Sandton city held its evacuation drill on Friday Morning, 28 October, they didn't expect it to fuel bomb threat rumours.

The general manager of the retail mall, Preston Gaddy, confirmed that the evacuation was merely a preparedness drill to sensitise shoppers, staff and tenants to want to do in an attack.

This didn't stop WhatsApp messages from circulating warning that there was an active bomb threat at Sandton City Shopping Centre.TimesLIVE reported that there was no bomb threat received.

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The heightened worries about security in the area come after the US Embassy issued a security alert warning of a possible terrorist attack in Sandton on the weekend of 29 -30 October.

Sandton City released a statement stating that it and Melson Mandela Square prioritise the safety of its internal and external stakeholders. The shopping centre confirmed that the retail space was trading as normal.

South Africans react to the fake bomb threat

Social media has been abuzz with jokes about the possible bomb threat.

Here are some comments:

Will Mpho Rods asked:

"Did you also train the staff on how to detonate bombs, you can't ignore the Americans they know better."

Rashid Gaffoor questioned:

"The whole terrorist attack may be real but what is weird is that they got intelligence of the day and place, do terrorists send out memos?"

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Molegi Lesh commented:

"So we have never been ready"

Sandton terrorist threat: Sandton City says business as usual with beefed-up security

In a related matter, Briefly News reported that businesses in the greater Sandton area are ramping up security ahead of the weekend.

This comes after the United States of America Embassy in South Africa issued an alert about a planned terrorist attack in Sandton over the weekend. The embassy warned its citizens to avoid large gatherings in the area.

Property management company Liberty Two Degrees said they have been monitoring security at hotels, businesses, and retail hubs since the alert was issued on Wednesday, 26 October.

Source: Briefly News