{"id":86127,"date":"2018-10-18T12:15:14","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T10:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/?p=86127"},"modified":"2018-10-22T09:49:01","modified_gmt":"2018-10-22T07:49:01","slug":"breaking-news-video-explosion-robbers-storm-jewelry-store-middelburg-mall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/news-headlines\/2018\/10\/18\/breaking-news-video-explosion-robbers-storm-jewelry-store-middelburg-mall\/","title":{"rendered":"(Update) Breaking News: Video &#8211; Robbers break display windows with hammers in robbery at Middelburg Mall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Note: This story\u00a0was edited as news updates were received<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>11:50<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An eyewitness, who was close to the jewelry store close to the Woolworths entrance, said that she heard what sounded like gunshots whilst talking to a friend at around 11:30.<\/p>\n<p>They ran inside Truworths for cover. Shortly thereafter there was a loud bang \u201cas if a bomb went off\u201d and smoke filled the air.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Robbery in Middelburg Mall, money taken. Perps got away. Police surrounding mall. Shops temporarily closed. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/stolencarRSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@stolencarRSA<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/t4nahNjzdD\">pic.twitter.com\/t4nahNjzdD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mthimkhulu &amp; De Beer (\u02d8\u032f\u02d8 ) (@ShortBass_) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShortBass_\/status\/1052861514921779200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 18, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The witness recalled how unmasked men used \u201cshiny sharp types of hammers\u201d to break the display windows at the shopfront. They then emptied the contents into black plastic bags.<\/p>\n<p><strong>12:10<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is reported that the smoke that can be seen on the video, was caused by gas canisters linked to the display cabinets, that detonated when the glass was broken.<\/p>\n<p><b>12:20<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Middelburg police have sent out information saying that no gunshots were fired. Bystanders mistook the sound made by hammers used to break the glass, for gunshots.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_86141\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86141\" style=\"width: 520px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-86141\" src=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/10\/Mall-Roof2-Copy-520x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"520\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/10\/Mall-Roof2-Copy-520x400.jpg 520w, https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/10\/Mall-Roof2-Copy-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-86141\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The broken windows at Touch of Gold.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The robbers was seen fleeing in a silver\/blue\/grey Toyota Corolla with registration number JGZ 733 MP and a double cab bakkie (make uncertain).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_86130\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86130\" style=\"width: 520px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-86130\" src=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/10\/Mall-roof1-520x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"520\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/10\/Mall-roof1-520x400.jpg 520w, https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/10\/Mall-roof1-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-86130\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scene outside the Mall where a jewelry shop was robbed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2022 A jewelry store in I&#8217;Langa Mall in Mbombela was robbed on 15 October. Social media users speculated that it might be the same gang.<\/p>\n<p>A R50 000 reward has been offered for the Mbombela robbery. See <a href=\"https:\/\/lowvelder.co.za\/455232\/r50-000-reward-browns-ilanga-robbery\/\" target=\"_blank\">photos of the suspects<\/a> in an article by www.mobserver.co.za\u2019s sister publication, www.lowvelder.co.za <a href=\"https:\/\/lowvelder.co.za\/455232\/r50-000-reward-browns-ilanga-robbery\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A gang of robbers have robbed a jewelry store in the Middelburg Mall.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5031,"featured_media":86137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Jana Boshoff","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[4574,5812,9,10010,21966,21989,3174,2291,14260,6342,7904,9276,14259],"class_list":["post-86127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news-headlines","tag-bombed","tag-breaking-news","tag-local-crime-news","tag-local-news","tag-middelburg","tag-middelburg-mall","tag-robbers","tag-robbery","tag-robbery-at-mall","tag-shoot","tag-shooting","tag-trusted-news-source","tag-what-happened-at-mall"],"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Local news"},"tag_labels":["bombed","Breaking News","Crime","local news","middelburg","Middelburg Mall","robbers","robbery","robbery at mall","shoot","shooting","trusted news source","what happened at mall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}