Shopping centre employees worried

Dubai: Staff working in shops at Wafi City are said to be scared of a repeat robbery following the smash-and-grab raid on a jewellery store on Sunday night.

Wafi City said its security "meets all of the current legislation" but the mall promised to upgrade measures if requested to by the authorities.

The Graff store where the robbery took place was fenced off yesterday and guarded by uniformed police officers, while the entrance the criminals broke through with two cars was boarded up and fenced off.

Elie Edmond, 44, a Lebanese brand manager who works for a chain with a store inside Wafi City, said: "Now they [the shop's staff] are scared because we have jewellery in the mall. They are worried.

"I've never heard about something like this in Dubai. I am very surprised. We didn't expect something like this."

A staff member at a watches store, which lies close to the Graff jewellery store, said there were no plans to remove expensive items from window displays, despite the smash-and-grab raid. "I don't think we'll do that [remove displays]. We don't need to," he said.

Indian Jijoy Joseph, 30, a compliance officer, said he was shocked that an armed robbery would happen inside a mall with full-time security.

Wafi City public relations manager Sally Meech said the robbery was "an unprecedented occurrence" but the mall was "back to normal." She said all shops, apart from the jewellery store that was targeted in the incident, were open yesterday.

She added, "Our security meets all of the current legislation and we work closely with police on everything that's required. If they say there are other things to do, we'll adhere to that, but it's very early because they are still investigating."

Immediately after the incident on Sunday night, the mall was evacuated and the shops closed.