The Yunnan Kidney Disease Hospital building, which had been rumored for two years to be demolished, has finally begun to come down. But during the demolition, large chunks of the building kept falling, leaving nearby residents uneasy. "There's no blasting—what kind of demolition is this? It's so close to the road; could it affect people?" In response, a person in charge at Yingze Demolition Company, which is responsible for tearing down the building, said that due to its own structural limitations, the building could not be brought down with controlled blasting, but the impact on the surrounding area had been fully taken into account during the demolition.

Excavator Demolition Is Loud, Nearby Residents Complain

Ms. Chen, who lives near the kidney disease hospital, said that around 12 noon yesterday, while she was running errands nearby, she saw a large chunk of the building under demolition suddenly collapse. After the dust settled, she felt the sight of the collapsed building was very dangerous. "They dug out the bottom of the building with an excavator and let it collapse naturally. I've never seen demolition like this. It's so close to the road—could it affect passersby?"

Mr. Zhang, who lives in Chuanfang Residential Community, expressed the same concern. "The dust smells awful, and the noise disturbs residents too. I don't know what kind of demolition method this is."

It is understood that at the end of 2010, the plot where the Yunnan Kidney Disease Hospital building stands was included in the reconstruction area of No. 10 Urban Village Zone in Xishan District, Kunming. Later, because of lease issues, the hospital's medical staff never moved out, so the demolition work did not proceed on schedule. It was not until this year that the building was officially demolished.

Response: Controlled Blasting Not Possible, Only Excavator Demolition

Yesterday afternoon, near the demolition site, Ms. Yan, a person in charge at Yingze Demolition Responsibility Company, was cleaning soil that had fallen on the sidewalk together with colleagues. Regarding the nearby residents' concerns, she said the safety of the demolition could be fully trusted. The kidney disease hospital building has a structure resembling the Chinese character "品," located at the intersection of Qixiang Road and Xiyuan Road, close to the road and green belt, with very narrow gaps between it and surrounding buildings, making demolition very difficult. Since the building has only six floors, controlled blasting could not be used, and it could only be demolished with an excavator.

"After inspecting the building's construction quality, we found that its structure is not very stable. If a small excavator were used for demolition, the building might collapse in the wrong direction due to structural instability," Ms. Yan said. She said the company used a large excavator whose arm is longer than the building is tall; it was responsible for demolishing part of the building, which was then broken up bit by bit with the excavator. "Before demolition, we had cordoned off the area, and during demolition more than 10 people were directing traffic and ensuring safety. As for the dust, it really cannot be avoided, but we have sprayed a large amount of water to minimize the impact on nearby residents." It is reported that the entire demolition work will take about two months.