A collapsed shopping center in Mexico City, Mexico is seen in this July 12, 2018 image obtained from social media. JESSICA CRUZ/via REUTERS

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

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

The site in the south of the capital, called Artz Pedregal, opened in March, according to local media. It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse.

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.</s>A shopping mall located in southern Mexico City partially collapsed Thursday, with no casualties or injuries having been reported at the moment.

Dozens of people shared images of the collapse on social media, showing how one of the walls crashes down into an area that was previously cordoned off.</s>A newly opened shopping mall in Mexico City has partly collapsed after structural problems apparently led the mall’s operators to evacuate the area. No casualties were reported.



Videos posted on social media show a cantilevered, multi-storey section of the mall collapsing in a cloud of dust and twisted metal on Thursday. Some of it fell into lanes of a major freeway, which had been closed shortly before the collapse.

The Artz Pedregal mall opened in March, though parts remain under construction. It had drawn the ire of neighbors worried about the loss of open space, congestion and other issues. Built on the edge of the city’s main expressway, the mall had suffered previous subsoil slides.

Mexico City mayor José Ramón Amieva said the collapse occurred in an area of offices, and experts were investigating whether the collapse of the cantilevered area was due to structural defects or soil settling.

“They noticed that a separation was occurring” between the overhang and the rest of the building, Amieva said of the hours before the collapse.

The mall’s operator said in a statement that it notified city authorities when it noticed signs the area was collapsing. It said it regretted the impact the accident was having on traffic on the notoriously crowded Periférico expressway. At least two lanes were closed.

The mall was controversial in part because it threatened to clog traffic, and because it was built near a rain catchment basin that serves to regulate the city’s seasonally heavy rainfall.

The risk posed by substandard building has been a longstanding issue in Mexico City, where many poorly built or designed buildings collapsed in the city’s 1985 and 2017 earthquakes, both of which occurred on 19 September.

The city also has notoriously bad subsoil conditions, and developers often build on unstable land.</s>MEXICO CITY (AP) — A shopping mall on Mexico City's south side has partly collapsed, after structural problems apparently led the mall's operators to stage a quick controlled demolition.

Videos posted on social media show a cantilevered, multi-story section of the mall collapsing in a cloud of dust and twisted metal on Thursday. Some of it fell into lanes of a major freeway, which had been closed.

The Artz Pedregal mall is partially open but also still under construction. It had drawn the ire of neighbors worried about the loss of open space and other issues. Built on the edge of the city's main expressway, the mall had suffered previous subsoil slides.

The city's head of civil protection says there are no reports of injuries.</s>A mall in Mexico that had been the site of contention partly collapsed Thursday amid structural problems.

The collapse of the newly opened shopping mall on Mexico City's south side led the mall's operators to evacuate the area, and no injuries were reported.

The Artz Pedregal mall opened in March, though parts remained under construction. It had drawn the ire of neighbors worried about the loss of open space, congestion and other issues. Built on the edge of the city's main expressway, the mall had suffered previous subsoil slides.

Videos posted on social media show a cantilevered, multi-story section of the mall collapsing in a cloud of dust and twisted metal on Thursday. Some of it fell into lanes of a major freeway, which had been closed shortly before the collapse.

Mexico City Mayor Jose Ramon Amieva said the collapse occurred in an area of offices, and experts were investigating whether the collapse of the cantilevered area was because of structural defects or soil settling.

"They noticed that a separation was occurring," between the overhang and the rest of the building, Amieva said of the hours before the collapse.

In a statement, the mall's operator said that it notified city authorities when it noticed signs the area was collapsing. It said it regretted the impact the accident was having on traffic on the notoriously crowded Periferico expressway. At least two lanes were closed.

The mall was controversial in part because it threatened to clog traffic, and because it was built near a rain catchment basin that serves to regulate the city's seasonally heavy rainfall.

The risk posed by substandard building has been a longstanding issue in Mexico City, where many poorly built or designed buildings collapsed in the city's 1985 and 2017 earthquakes, both of which occurred on Sept. 19.

The city also has notoriously bad subsoil conditions, and developers often build on unstable land.

In 2016, while foundation work was still being done on the mall, a retaining wall next to the expressway partly collapsed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>MEXICO CITY — A newly opened shopping mall on Mexico City’s south side partly collapsed Thursday after structural problems led the mall’s operators to quickly evacuate the area, and no injuries were reported.

Officials said a support beam failed in a cantilevered office area on the top floors that stuck out from the main mall building.

Restaurant worker Juan Ramon Hernandez said people in the mall were evacuated only about five minutes before the offices sheared off.

“We heard a big noise and they began to evacuate us from the plaza,” said Hernandez. “About five minutes later was when the collapse happened.”

Videos posted on social media showed the multi-story section collapse in a cloud of dust and twisted metal. Some of it fell into lanes of a major freeway, which had been closed shortly before the collapse.

The Artz Pedregal mall opened in March, though parts remain under construction. It had drawn the ire of neighbours worried about the loss of open space, congestion and other issues. Built on the edge of the city’s main expressway, the mall had suffered previous subsoil slides.

Mexico City Mayor Jose Ramon Amieva said the collapse occurred in an area of offices, and experts were investigating whether the collapse of the cantilevered area was due to structural defects or soil settling.

“They noticed that a separation was occurring” between the overhang and the rest of the building hours before the failure, Amieva said.

In a statement, the mall’s operator said it notified city authorities when it noticed signs the area was collapsing. It said it regretted the impact the accident was having on traffic on the notoriously crowded Periferico expressway. At least two lanes were closed.

The mall was controversial in part because it threatened to clog traffic, and because it was built near a rain catchment basin that serves to regulate the city’s seasonally heavy rainfall.

The risk posed by substandard building has been a longstanding issue in Mexico City, where many poorly built or designed buildings collapsed in the city’s 1985 and 2017 earthquakes.

The city also has notoriously bad subsoil conditions, and developers often build on unstable land.

In 2016, while foundation work was still being done on the mall, a retaining wall next to the expressway partly collapsed.</s>Mexico City: A newly opened shopping centre in Mexico City has partly collapsed after a support beam failed in a cantilevered office area on the building's top floors.

Restaurant worker Juan Ramon Hernandez said people were evacuated only about five minutes before the offices sheared off. Officials said no injuries were reported.

"We heard a big noise and they began to evacuate us from the plaza," said Hernandez. "About five minutes later was when the collapse happened."

Videos posted on social media showed the multistorey section collapse in a cloud of dust and twisted metal. Some of it fell into lanes of a major freeway, which had been closed shortly before the collapse.</s>Westfield Shopping Centre is Stratford was evacuated this morning as sprinklers are set off.

People had to leave the popular London shopping centre at around 11am when the fire alarm was heard.

Shoppers and staff members left the site while the reasons for the alarm were investigated.

A spokeswoman from the Metropolitan Police revealed that the incident at Westfield Shopping Centre was "not a police matter", but also revealed that "sprinklers were going off".

The London Fire Brigade were also contacted, but revealed that they were not in attendance at Westfield.

Shortly after the evacuation, it was revealed that the incident was a false fire alarm and that Westfield's had reopened to the public.

A spokeswoman for Westfield Shopping Centre said: "The evacuation occurred in a small part of the centre and was a false fire alarm. The centre is trading as normal."</s>MEXICO CITY (CBS) – A section of a luxury shopping center in the south of Mexico City collapsed on Thursday, prompting rapid intervention by emergency services and firefighters, with no deaths or injuries recorded so far.

Television images showed part of the collapsed structure of the Artz Pedregal, which was inaugurated in March of this year in the heart of one of the most affluent neighborhoods of the city.

“At the moment, there are no reports of people injured or trapped in the Plaza Comercial del Pedregal due to landslides,” said Fausto Lugo, Secretary of Civil Protection of the Mexican capital, on his Twitter account.
The Artz Pedregal shopping centre in Mexico City collapses.