Johannesburg - Shoppers were evacuated
from the Mall of Africa, one of South Africa's largest shopping
complexes, on Wednesday as police searched for a bomb after
receiving a threat, police said.
The mall, located between Johannesburg and Pretoria,
houses about 300 shops, including global brands such as
Inditex’s Zara, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), Cotton On,
Starbucks and Woolworths.
"There was a bomb scare and we received a complaint and
police went there to search the building," Gauteng police
spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said.
The search was still underway, he said.
Opened in April 2016, the mall mainly attracts the rising
number of young consumers in Africa's most developed economy,
which has thrived on demand for commodities.
In a separate incident, the management of Sandton City, a
mall in the financial district of Sandton in Johannesburg, said
it too had received a bomb threat. No explosive device was found
after a search and shopping had resumed.