Irate residents of an evacuated Sydney high-rise were left with ‘nowhere to go’ after they were suddenly told to leave last night, some have claimed.
Residents from all 122 apartments in Mascot Towers and nine units in surrounding buildings were unable to sleep in their own homes after concerns about the structural integrity were raised at about 6pm on Friday.
International students Leo and Belinda and their pet cat, named Early, were stranded in the cold with their luggage outside the apartments after 11pm on Friday.
‘At nine o’clock, everyone should have left. But we had a cat at home so we were permitted to enter at eleven o’clock,’ Leo said.
‘We got a phone call so we entered to save our cat. [Then] they just asked me to leave – we didn’t give a place to go.’
Leo and Belinda stayed at a ‘stranger’s house’ – as their student friends did not have any room in their small apartments.
International students Leo (pictured right) and Belinda (pictured left) and their pet cat Early (pictured) were stranded in the cold with their luggage outside of their Mascot apartments, in Sydney’s inner south, after 11pm on Friday
Cracks (pictured) on the 131 unit apartment building raised alarms on Friday night
Hundreds of residents have been evacuated from a high-rise apartment block after ‘movement’ was detected in Sydney’s Mascot
‘We don’t have a place to go. With a cat we can’t go to a hotel,’ Leo said.
‘We were just sitting out here waiting for help. A stranger couple driving in a car asked us if we needed help. We said yes so we stayed with them.’
The couple are back on the street waiting for news from the building’s manager about when or if they will be let back in.
Several other residents confirmed they were not given alternative accommodation, despite NSW Police’s statement that ‘a temporary shelter has been established at Mascot Town Hall’.
Residents could be homeless for days as engineers continue to examine the buildings.
An insurance company was supposed to organise accommodation but none had been organised, according to a person who answered the building manager’s phone.
Residents are still stranded as of Saturday morning
Evacuated residents were only given minutes to quickly gather their belongings and leave the apartment
Furious residents have claimed their apartment tower has been plagued by issues for years before they were ‘given five minutes’ to evacuate last night.
Rosalyn Lean, 65, was told to pack her bags and leave the 131-unit building on Bourke Street in Mascot, Sydney’s inner south, by 9pm on Friday due to ‘identifiable movements in the basement area’.
‘(It was) defects in the building, it was the joints and in the last few hours the cracks have got bigger… in the car park,’ she told The Daily Telegraph.
‘We just saw police, they’ve put a notice on the lift saying this might happen, but it’s happened very quickly. I’ve got to find a hotel.’
A crack in the slab which supports a building corner was of most concern, according to a letter from the building manager.
Another resident, Vitoria Krug, said she recently learned repair works were needed in the basement of the building, before she was suddenly told to evacuate.
‘Around 9pm, a police officer knocked our door and said we have five minutes to leave the building with our stuff,’ she told news.com.au.
Others said cracking in the building ‘had been going on for years’.
Residents Leo and Belinda and their pet cat Early slept at a ‘stranger’s room’ on Friday because they had ‘nowhere to go’.
‘We were told to leave last night because of basement movements. There are cracks on the beam, so it’s dangerous to live, so we had to leave.’
Diner Express owner Lee has ‘no idea’ when he will be allowed inside his business after adjoining business owners were kicked out on Saturday morning.
‘It’s bad. This thing happens and people can’t live here and we can’t do business,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I just came this morning and that guy (a police officer) told me “you can’t open your shop”.’
Resident Brian Leggott, who has lived in the building since 2008, blamed a nearby development at Church Avenue for the problems.
‘The council and government gave [the development] the green light, barely any questions asked,’ he said.
‘The land is tiny for the size of this development and basically squeezing Mascot Towers. This is a disgrace and I blame them for turning minor defects into major ones.’
Yet another resident, Anthony, told the ABC the building had ‘so many issues from day one’.
‘I guess defects happen in most apartments but you wouldn’t ever have thought it would come to this,’ he said.
‘Especially after seeing the fiasco with the Opal Tower in Homebush, you would have never thought something like this would happen in metro Sydney.
Shop owners in businesses said they had noticed cracks on their walls and ceilings start to develop five years ago, according to 9News.
‘We pretty much just moved in and now that. Very worrying. We don’t know what to do. We have to take the cars and go somewhere else,’ resident Fabiano De Santos said.
Resident Fabiano De Santos (pictured) was given told to leave the building after only moving in weeks before
The 11-storey building was evacuated as a precautionary on 6pm Friday
The area has been closed off by police with multiple fire trucks parked outside the building as 96 units were evacuated. Thirty-five have been deemed ‘under no threat’.
A number of residents left the building of their own accord, while Fire & Rescue NSW and police also assisted people to leave the building.
A temporary shelter has been established at Mascot Town Hall, on the corner of Coward Road and Botany Road, while residents wait for the all clear.
A letter from the building manager shows concern about a crack in the slab which supports the building corner.
‘The building’s engineer has carried out a site inspection this afternoon regarding cracking in the transfer slab beams supporting the primary building corner,’ the letter read.
‘Following this inspection, the engineer has raised concerns over the safety for residents in the building.
‘It has been determined that there will be a partial evacuation of the building, pending further monitoring of the transfer beams over the course of the next week.
A letter from the building manager revealed that an inspection was being carried out following reports of cracks in the slab beams
The area has been closed off by police with multiple fire trucks parked outside the building
‘This will determine if the building is safe for reoccupation.’
NSW Fire and Rescue said that there was ‘no concern with catastrophic failure of the building’ and the evacuation was just a precaution.
‘At the moment there is a concern with an 11-storey building,’ NSW Fire and Rescue Superintendent Adam Dewberry said.
‘As a precaution we believe there has been some movement detected over a couple of days, which has been monitored by engineers.
‘All we know is there have been some issues and reported movement and there have been some concerns raised. There is no injury or concern of immediate collapse.’
There are 20 firefighters on scene and were working with police and engineers
Residents are seen with luggage outside the high-rise apartment in Mascot
The letter also advised residents to seek an alternative place to stay, and owners are unsure if insurance will cover their temporary accommodation.
Residents could be seen wandering around the apartment block, some with luggage while others remained in their pyjamas.
Fabiano Di Santos said they were given only 30 minutes to evacuate and grab whatever they could.
‘There’s not much information at the moment, just told there’s a structural problem,’ he said.
‘This is a surprise for everyone especially us because we bought a unit here two-three months ago.
‘The manager said ‘the walls are moving’. That’s very worrying, we don’t know what to do.’
Mr Di Santos said he had noticed cracks in the building’s walls and in a car park.
‘When I heard about it I went the to have a look and the building manager told me that those cracks been getting bigger and bigger by the hour,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Me, my wife and our pets are in a friend’s place for tonight and tomorrow, and then we’ll see. Management told us that more engineers are coming tomorrow morning to assess the situation and the return home could be days, weeks or months.’
Residents could be seen wandering around the apartment, some with luggage while others remain in their pyjamas seeking information
The newly-built tower in Sydney Olympic Park was evacuated on Christmas Eve last year after cracks were found in the building, sparking fears it could collapse
Rosalyn Lean owns a unit in the building and was told to pack her bags and evacuate by 9pm. She said she was worried it could be a repeat of the Opal Tower.
The newly-built tower in Sydney Olympic Park was evacuated on Christmas Eve last year after cracks were found in the building, sparking fears it could collapse.
‘(It was) defects in the building, it was the joints and in the last few hours the cracks have got bigger… in the car park,’ she told Daily Telegraph.
‘We just saw police, they’ve put a notice on the lift saying this might happen, but it’s happened very quickly. I’ve got to find a hotel.’
‘We’re very annoyed and in a panic mode,’ Violeta Adriaan, 35, said
Violeta Adriaan said she felt ‘crap’ and ‘upset’ because there wasn’t much information.
‘We’re very annoyed and in a panic mode,’ the 35-year-old said.
‘We haven’t got any information about who’s paying for accommodation and they told us to go to family and friends.’
Engineers and building managers remained on the scene to determine the integrity and safety of the affected floors.
A shop owner from an adjoining building revealed they had been plagued by cracks (pictured) on their walls for five years
Rosalyn Lean owns a unit in the building and was told to pack her bags and evacuate by 9pm. She’s worried it could be a repeat of the Opal Tower
The newly-built tower in Sydney Olympic Park was evacuated on Christmas Eve last year after cracks were found in the building, sparking fears it could collapse