Our Correspondent
The four towers of the abandoned Mina Plaza came tumbling down at 8am on Friday morning, November 27, as per a planned demolition. The 165 metre-high towers with 144 floors in the Mina Zayed area of Abu Dhabi were demolished to make way for the redevelopment of the Abu Dhabi port area.
The towers were torn down using 6,000 kg of explosives. The controlled implosion, which lasted 10 seconds, was accomplished using plastic explosives and a detonator cord; 18,000 individually programmed detonators blew up the structures.
Modon Properties, the master developer commissioned to do the task, earned a place in Guinness World Records for the “tallest building demolished using explosives”.
Modon carried out the demolition exercise in coordination with Abu Dhabi Police, emergency response teams, Abu Dhabi Civil Defence Authority, National Ambulance and Emergency Crises and Disasters Management Centre in Abu Dhabi.
The Mina Zayed area was evacuated and 750 workers were moved to a temporary housing facility after COVID-19 tests. These workers will return once the roads are reopened. Even stray cats that lived in the abandoned towers were rescued in advance by animal lovers.
Stores in the area that make up the fish market, the fruit and vegetable souk, the carpet souk and the plant souk will be able to resume operations in the late afternoon. These markets will continue to operate even as work begins on the third phase of redevelopment for Mina Zayed. The three million square-metre port area is set to become a major tourist destination.
