Mall of the Emirates evacuated as shopping centre plunges into darkness

Shoppers were urged to leave the mall on Thursday evening. The cause is not yet known

Lights went out at the Mall of the Emirates on Thursday. The National

Shoppers at Mall of the Emirates were told to leave the building on Thursday night after the packed centre was plunged into darkness.

Customers said that sirens went off and a loud-speaker asked thousands of people to leave the country's second largest shopping precinct.

"All the power has gone in the mall and the sirens are blaring," one shopper told The National. "We were told to evacuate although no one is leaving. I went outside and when I came back all of the lights were still off.

"It's unclear if we still have to leave or not."

The lights were partially back on within about 20 minutes, shoppers said.

A brief power outage was reported at Mercato Mall in Jumeirah around the same time.

Majid Al Futtaim, which runs Mall of the Emirates, described it as a "a temporary power shutdown...due to a technical issue".

"The matter was immediately resolved and it is now business as usual at the mall," a spokesman said.

"Precautionary measures were taken to ensure the safety of visitors and tenants, and to minimise disruption during this period."