Owners of the Douglas Village grocery store in Cork demand for more than 30 million euros in damage after a supposedly defective Opel Zafira car caught fire in the downtown parking lot, forcing it to close from August 31 last year.
The centre is expected to reopen until autumn 2020 at the earliest, the Commercial Court was informed. Judge David Barniville agreed to expedite the opposing trial of four entities of this court.
Avoncore Ltd and Canmont Ltd, acting as Douglas Village Shopping Center, are suing Leeson Motors Ltd for allegedly distributing and promoting an Opel Zafira B-style car, registered 06 C, manufactured and designed through the defendant: Adam Opel GmbH, founded in Germany.
The third defendant is Opel Automobile GmbH which, since psa Group acquired the Opel logo in 2017, has been concerned about the continuation of recall campaigns, adding withdrawals on Zafira B models.
Vauxhall Motors Ltd in the UK is also being sued. It is alleged that the company is guilty of driving and managing Zafira B car recalls there and had provided commands and/or secured liaison with Leeson Motors Ltd about withdrawals made here.
The demolition and reconstruction prices of the car park, related operational interruptions and other facets of the arrangement are expected to exceed 30 million euros and continue the calculation of the amount of losses and damage suffered, according to the owners.
The plaintiffs, represented by Brian Kennedy, allege that at the time of the fire, the Opel Zafira belonged to Mohsen Al Khafagy of Lehenaghmore, Cork, after being purchased through him in Cork around June 2014.
It is alleged that Ms. Al Khafagy, after parking in the downtown parking lot, was about to leave the car to buy food when she saw smoke in the front of the car. It is claimed that the car caught fire, causing a “great conflagration”, causing “immense damage” to the center.
Whistleblowers allege that the chimney was born and/or was due to the defective manufacture of the car, i.e. its HVAC system.
It is alleged that the serious damage resulting from the chimney was caused and/or caused by negligence and/or breach of the duty of the accused in and related to the design and manufacture of the automobile; in/or in the design and implementation of the Opel Zafiras retreat; and/or not inform Ms. Al Khafagy of the danger, of which they were aware or knew, that the car represented for her and her circle of relatives, as well as to third parties such as whistleblowers.
The case includes a claim for annoying damages and/or copies on the grounds that they would have known and/or unwisely exposed Ms. Al Khafagy and members of the public and owners to a chimney place and damage to the chimney site.
The centre has been reopened as 12 November.
Since the mall closed, the town has lost about 1,000 parking spaces, while 46 sets of stores were out of service, adding to the main tenant, retail giant Tesco and Marks and Spencer.
With the recent easing of restrictions, major contractors, PJ Hegarty and Sons, resumed paintings at Douglas on May 18.
He claimed that the location of the chimney was such that it caused maximum disturbance, it broke less than 3% of the complex, with 12% to rebuild.
“It turns out to be a small area, but it’s at the center of the construction and all the control systems are in that area,” the mall manager Bartosz Mieszala said last month.
This included the ESB substation that fed each of the retail units, which means that each unit will have to be locked again.
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