A loud bang – then the 23-story apartment block collapses. The long uninhabited 1970s high-rise is to give way to an attractive city park.
Duisburg – An almost 50-year-old skyscraper was blown up with a loud bang on Sunday afternoon in Duisburg. The 63 meter high block of flats – popularly known as the “White Giant” – collapsed and a huge cloud of dust formed. 50,000 tons of rubble remained.
The spectacular demolition was broadcast on WDR television. The city asked onlookers to stay home. There was an evacuation zone of 200 meters around the blasting site. 1750 Duisburg residents had to leave their apartments.
The 23-storey high-rise from 1972 once housed 320 apartments, many of which had been vacant for a long time. The city wants to upgrade the Hochheide district, which is considered problematic, by removing a total of three high-rise buildings.
A green area is planned to replace the huge apartment blocks. In the future city park, three large areas are to be created – one each for sports activities, one for recreation and one for community projects such as gardening.
The first of the three high-rise buildings in the district had already been blown up at the end of March 2019. The second demolition was planned earlier, but had been delayed, among other things, due to a complex asbestos removal and the corona pandemic. The third blast is still pending.
Around 200 employees each from municipal offices as well as from the fire brigade and emergency services were on duty on Sunday. There were also about 40 police officers. Around 500 kilograms of explosives were required for the demolition. dpa
