Abandoned Toombul Shopping Centre targeted by youths reportedly armed with drills

Groups of masked and hooded youths have been spotted entering a Brisbane shopping centre that’s sat abandoned for more than two years. WATCH THE VIDEO

Footage has emerged of masked youths reportedly armed with drills and other tools entering an abandoned Brisbane shopping centre.

Multiple videos posted by different TikTok accounts shows separate groups exploring the Toombul Shopping Centre on Sandgate Rd, which closed more than two years ago after it was inundated by floodwaters.

It comes after a video surfaced of in May of Urban Explores capturing eerie footage within the shopping centre.

Unlike previous explorers entering under the cover of darkness, the group of masked and hooded youths are shown entering the site in broad daylight.

Urban Explorers find hundreds of lollipops and rows of unopened alcohol at the partly demolished Toombul Shopping Centre. Photo: TikTok

Stores once home to major retailers like Target and Kmart are now empty, dark and caked in dust, and partially demolished.

Cables dangle from the ceiling, and there are gaping holes in places, with floors stripped back to bare concrete.

Two tiktokers have posted a series of videos in which they ventured inside a cinema, walking through the empty halls.

One hooded tiktoker can be seen shooting hoops on a arcade basketball game, and taking a handful of lollipops left at the abandoned arcade.

The Archie Brothers Cirque Electriq was known to have had an arcade at the site.

Flooding at Toombul Shopping Centre in February 2022. Picture: Aaron Symonds

A video also captures a stocked bar, with rows of alcohol left untouched on the counter.

The footage also captures escalators at a standstill, piles of rubble where shoppers once frequented and what appears to be a storage room with empty petrol bottles.

Local resident Lang Sherpa who lives across from the partly demolished shopping centre said he has witnessed groups of youths coming in and out of the site.

“I see a group of kids sometimes around 9pm or 10pm at night. Just recently it was like Sunday afternoon where three entered the site,” Mr Sherpa said.

Tiktokers find hundreds rows of unopened alcohol at the partly demolished Toombul Shopping Centre. Photo: TikTok

“They carry backpacks with tools in them, and last Friday night I witnessed two kids entering with drills,” Mr Sherpa said.

Mr Sherpa said he had spoken to one of the workers at the Toombul shopping centre and “workers there seem to be constantly fixing these entrance points every day, but these kids keep getting in”.

A Mirvac spokeswoman said it was extremely disappointing that people were entering the demolition site at Toombul unauthorised.

“Given the safety concerns. We continue to work closely with our contractor, security team and local police to address the issues and we are doubling our security personnel onsite from tonight,” she said.

“Site safety is of the utmost importance, with the presence of hazardous materials scattered throughout the building, demolition now substantially under way and the building no longer structurally sound – trespassers will risk legal action as well as their safety.

“The only people allowed inside are authorised asbestos removal specialists in full hazmat protective gear.”

Queensland Police Service has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Abandoned Toombul Shopping Centre targeted by youths reportedly armed with drills