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Watch China Wipe 15 Tall Buildings In Seconds After Spending Years Unfinished
By Mikelle Leow, 17 Sep 2021
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Photo 192336980 © Chuyu | Dreamstime.com
Seven years of bad luck ended in a blow when a set of unfinished high-rise buildings in the Chinese city of Kunming were obliterated.
It took only 45 seconds for 14 apartment buildings of the Sunshine City II complex—incomplete since 2011—to vanish into the ground by controlled explosion. A 15th structure, the last, failed to destruct, so it was separately torn down three days later.
An uncalculated, gung-ho attitude for economic growth has caused several infrastructure projects to remain unfinished in China. The burden has become too much for some developers to bear, leaving many of the buildings untouched.
This particular group of properties halted construction in 2013, leaving behind a US$3.6 million debt, VICE reports. Another company acquired the high-rises in November 2020 but applied to have the block demolished, citing architectural flaws.
85,000 detonation points were allocated on the apartment buildings, and 4.6 metric tons of explosives were used to wipe them out, according to Kunming Daily. Those living in the area came out to catch the sight, with one woman proclaiming: “This is the most exciting moment.”
In place of the former high-rises, the new owner of the land hopes to construct lower-rise apartment buildings.
15 buildings were demolished in Yunnan’s capital city in #Kunming on Aug. 27. It seems one building in the middle refuses to fall. pic.twitter.com/Q0vINR7KQm
— Amazing Pu‘er (@AmazingPuer) August 28, 2021
[via VICE, cover photo 192336980 © Chuyu | Dreamstime.com]
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