Mexico City shopping centre collapses; no reported deaths

Mexico City shopping centre collapses; no reported deaths
Copyright 
By Reuters
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A portion of a multilevel luxury shopping centre in Mexico City collapsed on Thursday, sending debris flying and kicking up clouds of gray dust, television images showed.

No deaths or injuries were immediately reported at the site, Mexico's civil protection agency said.

The shopping centre, called Artz Pedregal, in the south of the capital opened in March, according to local media.

Mexico City's head of civil protection Fausto Lugo said that the cause was structural, but that experts would need to investigate whether the specific problem related to its design, construction or materials.

He added that the centre had all its permits in order.

Mexican planning officials developed a building code with strict safety standards after a 1985 quake toppled hundreds of buildings in Mexico City.

Even so, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake last September caused dozens of buildings to collapse and killed about 370 people in the capital and surrounding states, raising concern over Mexico's construction codes and practices.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Veronica Gomez; Editing by Alistair Bell and Richard Chang)

Share this articleComments

You might also like

Police rumble gang stealing antique books across Europe

Russian actress who hosted 'almost naked' party fined for calling for peace in Ukraine

Latest news bulletin | April 25th – Evening