See the shocking moment screaming customers run for cover as shopping centre roof collapses while storms and heavy winds batter parts of Victoria
- Ceiling inside shopping centre in south west Melbourne collapses on Friday
- A violent storm laid, including ‘giant hail’ laid siege to Melbourne’s west
- Horrified shoppers heard screaming as the roof caves in followed by deluge
- Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre in Point Cook was closed over the incident
A shopping centre ceiling has collapsed above horrified shoppers after a destructive storm tore through Victoria as the state’s emergency services warned locals to urgently find shelter.
The Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre in Point Cook, in Melbourne‘s south west, was forced to close on Friday afternoon because of the dramatic incident, which occurred just after 1pm.
It happened as torrential rain, dangerous winds and ‘giant hail’ laid siege to Melbourne’s west.
Footage uploaded to social media shows water dripping from the shopping centre ceiling moments before it fell in, while shoppers can be heard talking.
The ceiling of Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre in Point Cook, south west Melbourne, collapsed above horrified shoppers after storms tore through Victoria (Pictured, the ceiling caves in)
Stormwater accumulated in the roof immediately deluged the centre after the ceiling collapse
Then a huge section of the ceiling falls to the floor, pushed in by a huge surge of water that immediately floods the centre.
Shoppers are heard gasping and screaming in the footage.
Ambulance Victoria told Daily Mail Australia its paramedics attended the scene but no emergency care was provided.
Victoria’s emergency services issued an urgent warnings to people at nearby Weribee and Melton to ‘shelter indoors now’ because of the violent storm.
The social media alert warned people around ‘Port Phillip waters, Inner, Outer East, Western and Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula’ of ‘destructive winds, giant hailstones and heavy rainfall’.
Roads at Laverton were quickly underwater and flash flooding was widespread in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Earlier a severe thunderstorm warning was issued.
Advertisement