The sound of controlled explosions emitted from the building as it fell to the ground in stages, and a dust cloud rose as the cement and concrete fell to the ground.
As the Bank of Lisbon building has been demolished, residents from nearby buildings stood outside the exclusion zone to witness the implosion.
The building was deemed structurally unfit following a fire which lasted
three days last year and claimed the lives of three firefighters.
Temporary metal fences had been placed two blocks around the building as an exclusion zone.
Earlier on, police and safety officials carried out their final checks while engineers piloted drones around the building for research purposes.
People from surrounding buildings were earlier on evacuated for safety reasons and they waited in the viewing area at Library Gardens, just opposite Luthuli House.
Many people came from other areas to witness the demolition because it’s something that doesn’t happen very often.
Infrastructure development MEC Tasneem Motara will be addressing the media about what the plans for the building are going forward.
