Explosives Fail to Bring Down Two Residential Towers, One Falls Down 2 Hours Later

There have been plenty of demolition failures in history, no matter how easy strapping a bunch of explosives to an empty building may seem.  This demolition might just break the record for delayed collapse, however.

Two vacant high rise buildings in Seaforth, Merseyside, England were schedule for implosion on Sunday morning, but after several booms from the first round of explosives, both buildings still stood.  Frighteningly, one of the buildings decided to collapse unexpectedly 2 hours later. It’s probably embarrassing for the company in charge of the demolition, but the nearby residents are feeling the brunt of the failure, as they cannot go back into their homes until the second building finally falls. Most were only anticipating a two hour event, so they were woefully unprepared for a long delay.

The second building, dubbed the Montgomery House, was still standing on Monday, even after a partial collapse around 3:00pm local time, a video of which was tweeted by a Liverpool News reporter.  There’s some strong language in the video, so it’s not safe for work.

Watch as some more of Montgomery House comes down... but not all of it. pic.twitter.com/CWbZTezy5h

— Alan Weston (@alanweston) April 25, 2016

As of Tuesday evening, residents have still not been able to return to their homes, according to the Liverpool Echo, as the building is still partially standing.  Many have been forced to stay with family or at nearby hotels until crews can finally knock the building down.  Their plan is to bring it down in “phases,” and the company has vowed to make the affected residents as comfortable as possible with hotel accommodations, food, drinks, and other amenities. Even though there’s now a plan, there’s still not a clear timetable for the work to be completed.

For the most up-to-date information, the Liverpool Echo has some great coverage on the developments.