The Point Shopping Mall has labelled a ceiling collapse within the complex an "extraordinary event" that was completely outside of anyone's control, given Saturday's heavy rainfall.

The Maltese Islands witnessed torrential rain throughout the weekend, combined with strong winds and a series of thunderstorms. Sliema’s The Point Shopping Mall is a major retail and commercial centre located on Malta's east coast, which took a battering over the weekend. On Saturday, media reports showed that one of the shopping complex's stores, River Island, had its ceiling collapse due to the immense pressure caused by water leaking into the shopping centre on Saturday.

However, the shopping mall on the same day announced that following the incident, the outlets are “open and ready to welcome” customers. The news was welcomed by shoppers given the flurry of people that make their way to The Point Shopping Mall during the Black Friday weekend.

Speaking to WhosWho.mt, a spokesperson from The Point Shopping Mall said that the “extent of the rain was absolutely ginormous”, causing a significant amount of pressure on the mall’s infrastructure and pipes, “until they couldn’t take it anymore”. Indeed, an average 6.8mm of rainfall fell on Saturday across Malta and Gozo, varying depending on location. In some parts of Gozo, rainfall reached a staggering 13mm.

However, the spokesperson confirmed that the problem “was sorted out within a few hours” and everything at the shopping mall is “back to normal”.

WhosWho.mt understands, however, that River Island's ceiling remains unfixed and the store is still temporarily closed.

“It was an extraordinary event that was outside everyone’s control, but through the hard work of all of those involved, the situation was solved quickly, and everything is now back to normal,” they added, before thanking those that helped out during the incident.

They said that the incident did not have an effect on Black Friday shopping given the situation was handled immediately.