Thousands of shoppers flee Karawaci mall in panic

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Thousands of customers at Supermal Karawaci in Tangerang fled the mall in panic on Sunday after hearing a thundering sound followed by thick smoke emerging from the Timezone entertainment center.

"I was 300 meters from the center when I heard a bang. Everyone panicked as they thought it was a bomb," said Hendarsyah, a shopper who was at the mall with his wife and three young daughters.

His concern deepened after an employee at a pizza counter told him that the newly repaired roller coaster had collapsed. The information turned out to be false.

An eyewitness said one of the swinging frames in the Ali Baba ride had fallen and had caused a short circuit. It occurred at about 5:30 p.m.

Many terrified visitors rushed out of the mall, which was previously called Lippo Supermal, without paying for parking.

The management asked people through the intercom system not to panic, but the call went unheeded. People panicked further upon seeing a fire truck arrive.

A customer service worker at the mall told The Jakarta Post the incident was not serious.

"It was just a small accident," she said, refusing to give further detail.

She said no one had been injured in the incident.

The mall was celebrating the third anniversary of its rebuilding after it was vandalized during mass rioting in 1998. The Australian-franchised Timezone occupies 4,044 square meters of the mall and has a 400-meter-long indoor roller coaster.

The thundering sound in the incident caused people to panic as they were reminded of previous bomb explosions in malls, including one that rocked Cijantung Mall in East Jakarta earlier this year and Atrium Plaza in Central Jakarta last year.