This is according to Free State provincial spokesperson for the police, Peter Kareli. Firefighters have been on the scene for hours trying to get the fire under control. Kareli said the police was called out around two o’clock and all emergency services have been on the scene since.

Mangaung Metro’s Executive Mayor, Olly Mlamleli, also arrived on the scene earlier. She said she is happy that there were no fatalities and hope that the fire would be extinguished soon. “We are struggling with the pressure of the water, but I have briefed the team on the scene to say if need be, we call in back-up from other towns like Kimberley. She confirmed that the fire broke out in one of the stores and spread to another. Emergency personnel indicated that the fire reportedly started in the storeroom of Checkers on the ground floor of Mimosa Mall and spread to Game, which is right above it on the second floor.

Manager of the Mugg and Bean in Mimosa, Nicole Daniels, says one of her staff members were in Checkers when pandemonium broke out. “He called me and I rushed there to help him get out. We immediately realised that there was a fire,” she explained. All people were asked to evacuate the mall. “It was chaos and people started to panic. Some who were still busy eating lunch had to leave everything and leave,” Daniels explained.

Hours after the fire broke out OFM News was still on the scene and smoke was still ballooning from the side of the building and the roof. Some shoppers left with their cars still in the parking area. Resident Baba Sebolao said he was worried about his car that was still in the mall’s parking area. He could, however, get to his car hours later.

Firefighters moved from the far side of the building in Nelson Mandela Avenue to the parking area where they started to make a hole in the wall. The sound of explosions could be heard from inside the building. The operation continues.

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