Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Jamie King, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
Residents watching an old building being slowly torn down were suddenly forced to run for their lives when it unexpectedly collapsed towards them without warning.
Footage taken by curious citizens in the city of Wuhan, capital of Central China’s Hubei Province, shows them watching the ongoing demolition works in the Jiandong Intelligence Garden residential area.
The area is being razed to the ground in order to make way for new infrastructure serving Optics Valley Square, which comes off the back of a 2.2 billion RMB (251 million GBP) investment.
However, demolition work took a dangerous and unexpected twist on 19th December as this videos shows with one 10-storey building suddenly breaking in half and collapsing towards the ground inside the worksite.
Around 30 commuters watching from a bus stop on Minzu Avenue can be seen fleeing for their lives as the building crashes down, sending a large cloud of dust and debris pouring out onto the road.
Unsuspecting residents covered their heads and faces as the cloud of debris blew down the temporary walls surrounding the worksite and damaged at least two nearby cars, authorities said.
Picture Credits: AsiaWire
Traffic was affected and work was halted as safety checks followed, reports said.
One resident surnamed Xiang said: “There was dust everywhere! I couldn’t see a thing.”
A spokesman for the firm in charge of the demolition works has yet to provide an explanation as to why the unexpected collapse took place.
He said efforts were ongoing to further secure the worksite, and sprinkler lorries would be brought in to spray the surrounding air with water, allowing the dust to settle and providing cleaner air to local residents.
Construction for Optics Valley Square began in December 2014 and is expected to be unveiled to the public in March next year.
The square, which is built on top of a giant roundabout, will become a park under which motorway tunnels and underground train lines will pass.
The ambitious project has been dubbed China’s most complex underground network.
The surrounding area is also being revamped to include shopping centres and metro stations.
