Stores Re-Open After Sprinkler Pipe Bursts At South Hills Village Mall

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BETHEL PARK (KDKA) – Ten stores in the South Hills Village Mall were forced to close when a sprinkler pipe burst on Thursday.

By Friday morning, nine of the stores had re-opened, while the Apple store was scheduled to open at noon.

Cell phone video shows water pouring from the ceiling to the floor below inside the mall. At first, shoppers didn't realize what was happening when they heard a loud boom.

"My sister actually thought it was a gunshot, but then we looked and saw all the water," said Makayla Eslep.

Eslep said she was at the mall doing back-to-school shopping with her sister when chaos broke out.

"Everybody was shocked. We all didn't know what to do. Security came and told us to back up so they could contain the situation," said Eslep.

Officials with Simon Properties said a pipe that feeds the sprinkler system burst, which caused part of the ceiling to collapse. Now, there's a gaping hole in the drywall where that happened.

Ten stores had to close temporarily, but the rest of the mall remained open.

"The Apple store was completely flooded. That's the store I saw the most stuff. They had to close the doors and unplug all the cables because of the chargers," Eslep said

Cell phone video Friday showed employees using fans to dry out the floor. Yellow caution tape still surrounds a section of the floor on both levels above the hole in the ceiling.

Officials with Simon Properties said everything was cleaned and dried out. As for the sprinkler pipe that burst, officials said that will need to be repaired and they anticipate that being done quickly.

Fortunately, no one was injured.