Blackout at Trincity Mall Causes Madness
By Claudia Liburd
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The Trincity Mall
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(Trincity, Trinidad) --- On Saturday an unexpected blackout at the Trincity Mall caused havoc among shoppers and nearly resulted in mass looting.
The lights went out at approximately 7 p.m. and confused shoppers panicked and began to holler and hustle to get from one point to the next. Shopkeepers frantically ushered their customers off the premises for fear of being robbed due to the high risk associated with the blackout.
After being ushered outside the massive Saturday night crowd was forced to congregate outside due to the fact that taxis were not available. They were met by the loud sounds of a chopper which provided some light in the pitch darkness.
One bystander who would prefer to remain anonymous is quoted as saying, “It was frightening and shocking to me because I am not a local and I am not accustomed to these types of things happening in my home country. It is such a big mall and due to the stories that I hear about Trinidad from the locals about safety I was extremely alarmed.
“I did not know who was going to snatch my bag and how bold these people really are. The helicopter that was flying around in the sky made the situation come more alive as when I finally got out of the mall I had hopes of getting a taxi.
Then to get outside to see no taxis and meet a helicopter with a light streaming down on you it made the situation feel surreal like something off of CNN.”
Unconfirmed reports indicate that due to the ongoing renovations at the mall no generator current was available to restore the power.
~~Adz:Right~~ The Home Construction Ltd. (HCL) Group of Companies which is based in Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain is currently undertaking a massive expansion of the Trincity Mall in an effort to make it the shopping centerpiece of the growing suburban area. The renovation will involve construction of new retail space north and south of the existing structure.
The expansion of Trincity Mall is a part of the HCL Group of Companies Millennium Vision which is expected to cost $5 billion dollars in transforming Trincity to include middle and upper income earners.
By the time the mall is fully expanded it will have one million square feet of gross leasable area and will be the largest shopping centre in the Caribbean apart from Puerto Rico’s Plaza de la Americas. All phases are due for completion by mid-2008.
