Heavy gusts are believed to have played a key role in a wall collapse at a shopping mall that has put two shoppers in hospital.

A wall collapse that occurred at a suburban shopping mall in Melbourne has left six people with injuries, two of whom have been hospitalized.

The temporary wooden wall surrounding a large redevelopment site within the Cranbourne Shopping Centre in south-eastern Melbourne collapsed at around 12:30 pm on Tuesday afternoon.

The wall tumbled onto a pedestrian thoroughfare within the mall, colliding with six people upon landing, including five shoppers and one member of staff.

Two of those injured during the incident were struck on the head and have since been hospitalized – a woman in her 80’s who has been sent to Dandenong Hospital, and a man in his 50’s who is being treated in Casey Hospital.

Emergency workers treated four other people for their injuries at the scene, while two cars on exhibition in the thoroughfare also suffered damaged as a result of the fallen walls.

The wall ran along the main corridor of the shopping mall, surrounding an area that is currently being refurbished to serve as an outlet for homeware and clothing retailer Harris Scarfe.

Mall operator Federation Centres is currently undertaking a $114 million redevelopment of the Cransbourne Shopping Centre, with much of the facility still being refurbished.

Strong winds are believed to have played a key role in the incident, knocking over the wooden wall after blowing through the open rear doors of an abandoned Coles supermarket.

Should these circumstances serve as the underlying cause of the incident, it will serve to highlight the importance of properly securing equipment during construction work, as well as ensuring that surrounding environmental factors do not have the potential to affect the work sites.

Federation Centres external affairs general manager Brandon Philips confirmed that WorkSafe officials had already launched an on-site investigation into the wall collapse, but refused to speculate on possible causes behind the incident.