'Smoke bomb' at mall turns out to be work of firefighters

Reports of a “smoke bomb” and a “gas leak” at a Stellenbosch shopping mall on Tuesday turned out to be nothing more than a fire drill.

Stellenbosch Municipality community and protection services director Gerald Esau said the drill at Eikestad Mall was intended to simulate a real-life situation‚ which was why only a few mall managers were notified.

“We were just beefing up the simulation this morning‚” he said. “What we’ve picked up is that there are constantly new people coming and working in the centre and they are not used to it.

“If they think it’s real then you get a more uncontrollable response and that is what we’re trying to do‚ we are trying to improve that instant response.”