Four people were injured when the fourth floor of the Shoe Mart (SM) car park building undergoing construction collapsed at dawn on Sunday in General Santos City.
Construction activities were immediately halted at the east wing of the SM mall complex along San Miguel St, according to General Santos City Engineer Office chief Mark Reyes.
Monolith Construction declined to issue any further statement during a press conference it organised late Sunday afternoon, saying that the incident is now under investigation.
Project engineer, Jeston Mangete, likewise refused to comment on reports that the integrity of the building may have been compromised by alleged pilferage of round bars from the construction site.
The SM mall complex is said to be the biggest of its kind in Mindanao, according to Hans Sy of SM Prime Holdings, who recently visited the city in order to turn over to the local government the 440-meter two-lane concrete road that it constructed to expand its front entrance road access.
Sy said that they expect to open the mall in the first quarter of next year.
Reyes said that their own investigators have not yet entered the collapsed construction site, saying they are still waiting for the SM structural and civil engineers who are expected to fly in Monday.
The area is now cordoned off and members of the local press are barred from entering the construction site.
The city engineer, however, said that construction at the main SM building will still proceed as the cark park is a separate structure and has a separate building permit.
Monolith Construction, a Quezon City-based construction company, could not give an estimate to the losses that the damage and the delay will cause to the project.
The contractor, however, said the collapsed portion of the building covered at least 390 square meters and it also damaged the third and second floor areas. The damaged portion separated the southern and northern portions of the building.
There was no immediate statement from SM Prime Holdings on the matter.
SM is the fifth and the biggest shopping mall to rise in the city at the cost of P2.5 billion.
In 2009, Robinson Place opened its mall along J. Catolico St. The others are Gaisano General Santos, KCC Gensan and Fitmart.
The Henry Sy-owned SM Mall in General Santos reportedly has a floor area of more than 150,000 meters and will employ roughly 500 workers.
SM is reportedly leasing the land from the Salazar family and its lease contract covers 20 years, subject to renewal.
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