24 April 2017

Dubai: A mall-wide blackout suspended operations and left thousands of shoppers in the dark in Dubai Mall Monday night.

The power outage, which hit the mall at 7.13 pm, prompted all shops and restaurants to shut their doors.

The Dubai Media Office twitted about the power outage, adding that competent authorities are working to restore power quickly and get things back to normal in minutes.

“We are working with the concerned authorities to address the situation. We regret the inconvenience caused and thank our visitors for their patience,” a mall spokesperson said in a press statement.

Though the blackout left many shoppers int he dark, many used their mobile phone LED lights to keep the mall illuminated. Emergency back-up lights also kicked in.

It was not immediately clear what caused the power failure. Emergency workers were on site and a Civil Defence firetruck was seen next to the mall.

Many mall visitors, however, continued to shop — with their flashlights. A reader has uploaded this video from inside the mall.

Lights and escalators suddenly stopped at about 7.13pm on Monday night, according to mall visitors.

Gulf News reader Klaudia Isabella described the scene inside the sprawling shopping complex: "Very calm, people are walking towards exits, shops are closed to enter. Mall starts getting empty. The power is still off." 

Gulf News has contacted Emaar, the mall owner, but there’s no immediate reaction from the mall operator.
It was not immediately clear when power will be restored, and police arrived at the mall.

A mall visitor told Gulf News that mall visitors are calmly heading outside, the elevators and emergency exits are working and that the neighboring Souq Al Bahar and Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower attached to the mall, are not affected by the power failure.

Dubai Mall staff are seen assisting people to go out of the elevators. Emergency lights kicked in while exits and elevators are working, shoppers reported.

A Dewa official said: "We are checking with the concerned department and we shall get back to you with an official reply."

Sally, a sales clerk, told Gulf News: “I’ve been working in this mall and this is the first time it happened.”

Retails within the mall had suspended all payment transactions and had asked shoppers to leave the premises.

A store manager said they have cancelled all retail transactions.

“It’s been dark for around 50 minutes, they did the fountain show at 7 then completely everything went dark. We thought it was part of show.  I was inside the mall, everyone was screaming because they thought it was part of the show, they were surprised.

There was no panic, I feel sad for people waiting for show

Lots of backup lights we can still see, that's good,”   said Spanish expatriate Luis C.

Last week, April 17, a one-hour, an hour-long power outage hit a three-tower residential block opposite Burj Khalifa.

The power failure took place at around 1.20opm at The Lofts Towers, promoting the residents to vacate their flats.

© Gulf News 2017