New Delhi (dpa) – In India, two illegally built skyscrapers around 100 meters high have exploded. The twin towers collapsed in about nine seconds to the cheers of onlookers, as seen in television footage from station NDTV on Sunday morning.

The Supreme Court ordered the destruction a year ago because the private builder violated building regulations for residential buildings. At the time, the court also ordered that action be taken against government employees who agreed to the construction plans and to compensate the buyers of the apartments.

The controlled demolition took place in a densely populated area near the capital, New Delhi. With 3,700 kilograms of explosives, the lower floor was to collapse first and then the upper floors, a representative of the company in charge of the demolition announced in advance, according to the local television channel NDTV. It was therefore expected that the explosion would cause small tremors that would be felt up to 30 meters away. Experts from several countries were involved in the explosion.

Thousands of residents had to leave their homes

Several thousand residents of surrounding buildings were asked to leave their homes on Sunday. Among other things, you should also hang pictures and keep the windows closed. The adjoining buildings were previously covered with a special fabric to protect them from dust. Stray dogs and cows were also taken away ahead of the blast, local media reported. During the explosion there was a temporary ban on flying in the area and traffic was also restricted.

No inhabitant had ever moved into the two destroyed towers. After the explosion, workers had to clean up tons of debris.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:220828-99-542884/4