Update
GEORGE NEWS - A false bomb threat caused quite a scurry on Tuesday afternoon, 23 March, as all staff members and patrons of Checkers Paddagat at St George's Square in Knysna Road, had to evacuate the building and leave the premises.
When police and other emergency services arrived on scene after management received the call, everyone had already evacuated the building and was standing in the parking lot.
A part of Knysna Road was also closed for traffic for a short while.
According to George police communi-cations officer, Capt Nolonwabo Tshengu, a man phoned in at approximately 15:45 and said that there was a bomb in the building that would explode within minutes.
The bomb squad as well as the K9 unit was deployed, but no bomb was found and the premises was declared safe.
An eyewitness who was in the centre when the bomb threat was phoned in, said that she didn't really feel scared as it had happened to her a couple of times while she was living in Johannesburg.
"Most of the people around me also didn't seem panicked. From my experience it's a hoax most of the time."
In an attempt to reach Checkers for comment regarding the incident, local store management referred George Herald to their divisional office in Port Elizabeth, but at the time of going to print on Wednesday no one could be reached for comment.
Anyone with information about the false threat is asked to call Warrant Officer Jerome Malan on 044 803 4715 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
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