Disaster at Bem Bom at Comaro Crossing

BEM BOM at Comaro Crossing Shopping Centre has been cordoned off after a concrete slab collapsed at the front of the store at about 5.58am this morning, Wednesday February 28.

Suzi Farinha who is one of the owners of the store spoke to the CHRONICLE saying that the store has been there for about six years now and was previously a pharmacy. She spoke of how the first constructers who built the place about 20 years ago did not do it right.

“There is no pillar of support at the front of the store and there was no solid steel support inside. This is not the fault of Bem Bom or the current centre management. The engineer who approved this construction years ago was wrong,” said Farinha.

Regional operation manager of Broll Property Group (company that handles the centre’s communications), Johan Weiss, explained that a full investigation is underway.

“We had a structural engineer on scene in the morning and we ensured safety precautions were taken to make the area safe. The area has been cordoned off. The concrete slab running through the roof at the front of the store was only joined by four pieces of steel. Clearly the people who approved it did not see that there was a flaw in this. The steel should have been running continuously through the roof but because the end part of the centre where Bem Bom is, was built much later on, it was not joined correctly,” explained Weiss.

Weiss advised that they will be checking all the pillars around the centre to ensure there are no faults although the engineer declared it safe. Farinha advised that the store should be up and running by tomorrow, March 1, as there are no faults or damages inside.

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