Fire breaks out at Sandton restaurant

A fire engulfed Bukhara restaurant in Sandton on Wednesday. Fire picture.

A fire engulfed Bukhara restaurant in Sandton on Wednesday. Fire picture.

Published Nov 22, 2018

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Johannesburg - A busy lunch hour turned chaotic at a fancy restaurant after a fire broke out at the eatery at Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton on Wednesday.

A fire engulfed Bukhara restaurant, causing the mall to evacuate shoppers and guests at the upmarket Michelangelo Hotel and Legacy Hotels and Resorts. It is believed a suction duct in the kitchen caught fire.

The mall management confirmed in a statement that the fire broke out just after midday and was quickly contained. Customers and workers were evacuated. Two hours after the incident, the mall was operating normally.

A shopper, Mathapelo Simelane, said: “I had just arrived at the mall and started seeing smoke. The mall started evacuating people very quickly. There was a lot of smoke coming out of the mall.”

Netcare 911’s Shawn Herbst said: “One person sustained minor injuries due to smoke inhalation. Others were treated on the scene and also sustained minor injuries.”

This isn't the first time the upmarket mall has had an emergency situation. There have been three structural collapses in two years.

In 2015, two incidents took place at Sandton City. In the first instance, two construction workers suffered minor injuries when the ceiling of an empty shop on the second level collapsed on them.

In the same year, a woman was injured when the ceiling between the banking mall and Nelson Mandela Square collapsed.

Last year, two people sustained injuries after parts of the roof collapsed at Sandton City.

The Star

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