Mexico City shopping center collapses; no reported deaths

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A portion of a multilevel luxury shopping center in Mexico City collapsed on Thursday, sending debris flying and kicking up clouds of gray dust, television images showed.

No deaths or injuries were immediately reported at the site, Mexico's civil protection agency said.

The site in the south of the capital, called Artz Pedregal, opened in March, according to local media. It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse.

Mexican planning officials developed a building code with strict safety standards after a 1985 quake toppled hundreds of buildings in Mexico City.

Even so, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake last September caused dozens of buildings to collapse and killed about 370 people in the capital and surrounding states, raising concern over Mexico's construction codes and practices.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Veronica Gomez; Editing by Alistair Bell)

See Also:

• U.S. service member killed in combat in Afghanistan: military statement

• Scans increasingly catch 'incidentalomas' that are rarely problematic

• House Speaker casts doubt on Congress acting to stop trade tariffs