One hurt in mall stampede

HUNDREDS of bargain-hunting shoppers stampeded and injured a woman when the new Gillwell Taxi Retail Park opened its doors yesterday morning.

The unidentified woman was knocked out in the rush of shoppers wanting to take advantage of specials.

Police and traffic officials were sent to the mall from as early as 6am to control traffic and crowds.

East London police spokesman Colonel Mtati Tana said: “Police were requested to be present to prevent any criminal incidents among the shoppers and ensure everything ran smoothly because of the expected congestion at the mall.”

Eris Property Group regional manager Queen Mjwara said: “We anticipated the influx and our plan included disaster management, medical staff, crowd control and enough security to assist with the influx.”

Mjwara said retailers ran opening specials and “of course shoppers took advantage of the once-off opportunity on reduced prices”.

Buffalo City Metro spokesman Thandy Matebese said: “The new mall might have contributed to traffic congestion, particularly in the immediate vicinity of the mall, but to try to minimise the extent of traffic congestion traffic officers were regulating traffic from 6am in that area.”