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The 142 pages of findings, to which this video is a companion piece, amount to a depressing account of a tragedy long in the making that could have been averted.

According to the report, the collapse occurred when a weld between a support column and beam failed in two stages because of corrosion caused by years of water and road-salt penetration.

The collapse may have been unprecedented in the developed world.

“One is hard-pressed to find a similar example where a carbon-steel framed building in North America or Europe continued to corrode to the point of failure, when no extreme loading is present,” the report states.

As the judicial inquiry into the collapse has already heard, leaking occurred because an “intrinsically flawed” waterproofing system installed in 1980 failed from the start, prompting years of complaints.

Inquiry documents show some residents dubbed the shopping centre the “Algo Falls.” Others jokingly advised taking an umbrella when shopping there.

Still, despite some efforts — one of which saw workers fill cracks and joints in the cement with colourful pool noodles — the leaking continued.

“The fact that the roof was allowed to leak for 32 years is perplexing,” the report states.

“A number of actions could have been taken to avoid collapse had the critical condition been identified in time.”

Even more perplexing, perhaps, is that none of the engineers and others who inspected the mall over the years foresaw the looming catastrophe.

The public inquiry into the mall’s collapse is ongoing.