Sun International’s Carnival City Casino in Brakpan had to be evacuated over the weekend after a fire broke out. It’s believed that an electrical fault was the cause of the blaze on Saturday night.
Even though there were many people present in the popular Gauteng casino at the time of the fire, emergency services reacted very quickly, and no injuries were reported.
According to a spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni Emergency Services, William Ntladi, a fire broke out when an electrical short circuit caused the fiberglass material near the entrance of the casino to catch alight.
The emergency services from the Brakpan and Benoni central fire stations, as well as the Tsakane fire station, arrived on the scene at around 7 pm. and evacuated the casino patrons.
Work immediately began to extinguish the fire and once it was put out, damping work continued before the scene was declared safe again.
“On investigation, it was found that fiberglass material from outside entrance atrium caught alight suspected to have been caused by electrical short circuit,” explained the spokesman.
Footage from the fire was shared on social media while the incident was still happening, which led to a sense of panic from family members of those who knew their loved ones were visiting the casino at the time.
However, Carnival City Casino said in a statement that things seemed much worse on the shared footage than they appeared to be.
” Although videos being shared on social media convey a sense of a large fire, this was not the case,” Carnival City reassured the public.
Soon after police gave an all-clear for operations to continue as usual at the casino on
Saturday night, Carnival City issued a statement, explaining that customers could return to the location.
The casino added that, thanks to the quick action of the emergency forces, the flames didn’t spread to the interior of the building.
Carnival City Casino is a popular East Rand entertainment destination and is considered one of the most successful properties in the Sun International portfolio. The casino is considered one of the best in Gauteng and is a festive fairground of non-stop fun and entertainment. It’s open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, where patrons come to gamble, mingle and win!
There are 1,400 slot machine games available across the casino, starting from as little as two cents a wager.
Popular titles include Thunder Cash Link: Empress of the Pyramids and Cash Connection: Charming Lady.
Casino table game fans will love the exciting variety found at Carnival City, which are spread out throughout the smoking and non-smoking areas. VIP players enjoy the freshly revamped and more spacious exclusive Prive, reserved for Sun MVG Diamond and Platinum members. High-rollers get to choose from 80 high-denomination slots and 15 table games such as American Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack and Poker.
The Prive lounge has chic, contemporary décor, where the focus is on privacy, personal service, and premium catering. There is a great Carnival Bar situated around the non-smoking area of the casino where visitors can unwind, enjoy a drink and watch a live performance before they head back to the machines or tables.