An impressive fire broke out in a shopping mall in the Uruguayan city of Punta del Este and as a consequence of the advance of the fire The roof of that mall collapsed.
The incident was generated on Saturday morning by a suspected electrical fault at the Tienda Inglesa bakery, but the firefighters were unable to control the flames and the danger spread to all of Punta Shopping, although no injuries have been reported so far.
Several videos of the fire were uploaded to social networks and there you can see how one of the walls collapses, forcing firefighters to move away from the place to seek shelter.
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VIDEO: the moment when the wall of the shopping mall in Punta del Este collapses. The fire could not be controlled yet and firefighters continue to work on the scene.https://t.co/JobyDgYSWE pic.twitter.com/eJTzgMDZXU
— Underline (@Underline) August 7, 2022
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“Since early Saturday morning, the firefighters continue to work incessantly. We appreciate the hard work of all of them. The mall will remain closed until further notice, we will keep you informed. Again, thanks for the love and support,” the shopping center said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the National Directorate of Firefighters reported that they are still working on the site: “Despite the efforts of several firefighters, it has not been possible to stop the spread of the fire, which is advancing through the Punta del Este shopping center. There was a partial collapse of a wall and ceiling.
“Since early Saturday morning, the firefighters continue to work incessantly. We appreciate the hard work of all of them. The mall will remain closed until further notice, we will keep you informed. Again, thanks for the love and support,” they specified.
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Tremendous shopping fire in Punta del Este.
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Let’s hope they are all well. pic.twitter.com/99GDfVL01H— Daniel Cohen Imach (@DaniCohenImach) August 7, 2022
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The Uruguayan newspaper El País explained that the fire It started around 4:00 am on a Saturday morning.
As reported by the Fire Department, around 4:00 p.m., the advance of the flames in the subsoil was stopped, stopping the spread to the rest of the mall.
However, later it spread again and the firefighters worked all night and early on Sunday, adding crews to this task.
During this Sunday morning they continued with the work, but the fire was still out of control.
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We update information #Puntashopping pic.twitter.com/Nm19lxT1Ex
– Punta Shopping (@PuntaShopping) August 7, 2022
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The Fire Department statement indicated that the flames also affected some vehicles located underground and collapsed a wall.
As for the smoke, it was channeled through the entire basement level to upper floors, so they had to use compressed air cylinders for respiratory protection equipment.
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