snip...
   my @row = split(/;/, $array[$_]);
   if ( defined @row ) {
      $hash{$_} = \@row;

   } else {
      print "Empty line at: $_\n";
   }
snip... 

##</code><code>##

open(IN, "$file") || die "Cant open $file\nReason: $!\n";

while (<IN>) {
   chomp();

   my @row = split(/;/);

   if ( defined @row ) {
      $hash{$.} = \@row;

   } else {
      print "Empty line in $file at line: $.\n";
   }
}