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Two months after the Westfield Galleria in Roseville closed from a devastating fire, shoppers were again forced to evacuate Monday. This time, choral singers are to blame.
The Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra and several area congregations had prearranged a "flash mob" singing of "Hallelujah Chorus" in the mall's food court.
But with thousands of people crowding the second-floor food court, the "random act of musical kindness" never got off the ground.
"It was so jammed with people that you could not even move," said Connie Santos, who hoped to enjoy the music, then shop.



"Somebody reported hearing two pops that sounded like the floor was giving way and another said the floor was shifting," said Tom Dodaro, a Roseville Fire Department spokesman.
City engineers were on site inspecting the floors to test their structural integrity, fire officials said.
Westfield officials announced late Monday night that all Galleria stores will reopen at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
About 70 percent of the mall had reopened since the Oct. 21 police standoff and fire. The entire mall had been closed for a week following the devastating blaze.



In the purest sense, "flash mobs" are a prank or improvisational performance on an unsuspecting audience and venue. In some cases, performers have been arrested in their attempts at humor. In this case, the police and fire departments were apparently summoned because too many people were in on the joke.
Some participants had been talking up the 7:30 p.m. scheduled performance for weeks on the social networking site Twitter.
The Choral Society website detailed the event like a regular performance.
"Come join our large Chorus of area Singers as they burst into Handel's Hallelujah Chorus much to the surprise and delight of Shoppers in the Food Court of the recently reopened Westfield Galleria at Roseville," the website reads. The site also allows people to download the score.
Even the mall's public relations firm knew the plan days in advance and was ready to escort media outlets to prime viewing locations.



The Choral Society website detailed the event like a regular performance.
"Come join our large Chorus of area Singers as they burst into Handel's Hallelujah Chorus much to the surprise and delight of Shoppers in the Food Court of the recently reopened Westfield Galleria at Roseville," the website reads. The site also allows people to download the score.
Even the mall's public relations firm knew the plan days in advance and was ready to escort media outlets to prime viewing locations.
Santos said she arrived at the food court early to listen to a friend from church sing. With so many people "wedged in there," she could tell something wasn't right.
"The floor was bouncing a little too much. I heard a few people say it seemed like an earthquake," she said.
Soon she heard the announcement that the mall would be closing early. Each announcement was progressively louder. People were not moving at first. Eventually, firefighters walking side by side escorted the stragglers out