MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Punta Shopping mall waiting for technical reviews to decide when to reopen

“It is impossible to talk about the damage at this moment,” Ivanier explained

Managers at the Punta del Este shopping mall (Punta Shopping) that went down in flames over the weekend said they were waiting for a technical assessment before deciding when to reopen and which parts.

 A “Technical evaluation is awaited to handle reopening”, said Punta Shopping's general manager Uri Ivanier after 75% of the structure was destroyed by the fire, particularly the Tienda Inglesa supermarket where ignition is said to have started.

There were still small fire outbreaks in the bakery area where the fire began and firefighters were still waiting for the right moment to enter that area and put down the remaining flames amid the risk of collapse.

Ivanier also pointed out that “many commercial premises” were affected by the fire and will have to wait for the “technical evaluation” of the Fire Department to discuss reopening times.

“We do not want to generate a lack of expectation, there are many people who work in the mall, and we want to be accurate when we have to say things,” Ivaniel insisted.

“We are supposed to have support, as we have had from a lot of companies, tenants, officials, I think it is our responsibility with the support of all to move forward and to resurface”, he underscored.

In any case, “it is impossible to talk about the damages at this moment”.

”It is not yet time for final evaluations (...) this is minute by minute, the trucks are still passing,“ Ivanier went on while praising the work of firefighters.

He added that ”the fire is [still] being extinguished.”

(Read also:en.mercopress.com/2022/08/08/punta-del-este-shopping-mall-gripped-by-devastating-fire )

Ivanier explained that inside the mall there was still not enough visibility to measure what is happening and that experts and technicians would go in first, followed by mall staff.