Chemical scare sees hundreds ordered out of shopping centre
SHOPPERS described scenes of “pandemonium” as hundreds of people were evacuated from a shopping centre after a chemical smell developed.
Emergency services were called to Silverburn shopping centre just after 12.30pm on Wednesday after reports that some people were feeling unwell.
Police said about 50 people were receiving medical treatment as a precaution.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) sent a specialist environmental protection unit to the scene along with a number of fire engines.
Linsey Hanna was at the centre when it was beginning to shut down.
The 22-year-old from Glasgow said: “Alarms went off for the entire shopping centre.
“There were quite a lot of workers getting treated outside by paramedics, police then started asking if we had any coughing problems.
“We heard one worker say they had known something wasn’t right.
“There were hundreds of people, it was actually crazy – every single person was evacuated.
Shed added: “Outside, it was just chaotic – it was absolute pandemonium.”
In a statement posted on social media, Silverburn said: “We’ve temporarily evacuated Silverburn as a precautionary measure and the emergency services are in attendance.
“The safety of our customers and staff is always our number one priority.
“We will keep you updated on the situation.”
A man, who did not want to named, was heading to the cinema with his wife.
He has been standing outside Silverburn for several hours after leaving his bag in Cineworld.
He told The Evening Times: “My wife and I were heading to watch a film at lunchtime. We got to Nando’s and we started coughing.
“We bought our tickets, sat down to watch the movie then the screen went blank and we were told to evacuate.
“I can still feel it in the back of my throat.”
Gym goers at Puregym were also evacuated.
Many had left personal items such as house and car keys in the lockers and were waiting to gain access to their belongings.
One woman, who did not want to be named, said: “We felt fine and only realised something was up when we were told we had to evacuate the gym.”
Shoppers also took to Twitter to describe their experience.
One person called Caroline tweeted: “In Silverburn over an hour ago myself and lots of others went into fits of spontaneous coughing, reported
‘‘ I can still feel it in the back of my throat
this to a Silverburn staff member.” Another person wrote: “Silverburn has been evacuated, people randomly coughing.”
A number of road closures were also put in place for at least an hour and a half due to the incident, including Barrhead Road, Peat Road and M77 J2 off-slip.
Glasgow City Council announced the restrictions had been lifted at about 4.25pm.
An SFRS spokesman said: “Operations control mobilised a number of fire engines and a specialist environmental protection unit.
A Police Scotland spokesman said the centre reopened at about 4pm but some shops said they would not be back to business for the rest of the day.