A bomb hoax forced the closure of the Mar Shopping mall in Loulé for about two hours, between 1 pm and about 3 pm today, Thursday. The GNR confirmed the occurrence and that the author of the threat, which turned out to be false, has already been identified.

An on-site witness told our newspaper that it all started around 1 pm and ended around 3 pm. During this period, the doors of the shopping complex were closed and no one could enter Mar Shopping. In some stores, at least employees could not leave. In the end, “a man was caught.” “Everything was crazy and people were all very scared,” said the same source, a commercial space client, who preferred to remain anonymous.

Despite the apparatuses in some places, many of the mall’s customers and shoppers didn’t even realize that something was going on, as another reader told our newspaper.

“The individual who will have promoted this bomb threat has already been properly identified. Now, for us, the normal procedures in this kind of situation are proceeding, which are all planned. The original situation is already properly controlled, ”he said.

As for the non-evacuation of the complex, the GNR spokesman did not confirm this situation, nor did he deny it, sending any clarification on this matter to those responsible for the shopping centre.

‘GNR, as a security force in the face of such a situation, must take a number of steps. But let us not forget that an infrastructure of this size has a private security force and its own protocols, which it must activate in case of fire or when there is a bomb threat. Therefore, this question has to be asked to the head of security of Mar Shopping », said.

“The priority, both for GNR and commercial infrastructure, was to safeguard people’s lives and safety and that has happened. We made the normal steps in these types of situations, which are filed », assured the spokesman of GNR..

Meanwhile, the management of Mar Shopping, issued a statement that ‘has been alerted to a possible security risk. In this sense, the security protocol was immediately activated for these situations, which includes contact with the authorities, who have come to the scene to certify the veracity of the threat.

“For MAR Shopping, the most important thing is the safety of those who visit us and those who work here, so we have complied with all the authorities’ recommendations,” adds the administration of the Shopping Center.

“Normality is now restored and there is no reason for any further action,” the statement said.