A 43-metre tall block of flats has been demolished by children. Hexham house, Walker, Newcastle, came tumbling down at around 11.30 on Saturday morning.
Despite the work being carried out by Newcastle City Council the individuals responsible for hitting the big red to bring the building down were three primary school children.
The explosion was the first controlled demolition in the city since 2008. The empty apartment block was demolished to make way for 50 new homes as part of a redevelopment project by Newcastle City Council.
The primary school children behind the button were from schools in the local area who won competitions to be in the demolition team.
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(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
Emily-Jane, nine and Aiden, 10, won their place on the demolition team in a competition writing poems about life in Walker.
Frankie, six, ironically won her place by making a cardboard model of the tower and painting it with rainbows.
Two of the children have dramatically changed the view outside their bedroom window from the demolition
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Project Manager Paul Tirbitt noted that there was a “little issue” due to “Some of the residents didn’t want to leave their properties,” despite the council block being derelict, which delayed the demolition by 20 minutes.
Local reports from the scene by the BBC noted, after hitting the button there was an unexpectedly long pause before anything happened.
Due to the sequential nature of the demolition there was not a singular loud initial “bang,” however there was a powerful shockwave “that penetrated deep within your chest” as the building came tumbling down creating a massive dust cloud where the building once stood.
The 16-storey tall building was reduced to a massive cloud of dust and a 15-metre high mound of rubble and concrete shards.
After the event children responsible for hitting the big red button were given certificates from the Newcastle council and a cake featuring the now levelled building.
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