r/Damnthatsinteresting 3d ago

Image Crowd watching the demolition of Q.E. square flats in Glasgow, 1993. The demo company used 2x the amount of explosives required, resulting in the death of an onlooker, as crowds were too close to flying debris.

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580 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

65

u/gabacus_39 3d ago

Whatever happened to the rules about sources?

31

u/Anthexistentialist 3d ago

Source (picture): Simon Chirgwin via Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutchesontown_C

37

u/perenniallandscapist 3d ago

Gone. It's been gone for so long I can't even remember. You can report every single post for violating the rule and nothing gets done. If they enforced the rule, this sub would be dead.

2

u/lacostewhite 3d ago

Lol no one has followed that rule in years

17

u/trubol 3d ago

"You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!"

Michael Caine, Italian Job

26

u/critiqueextension 3d ago

The demolition of the Queen Elizabeth Square flats in 1993 resulted in the tragic death of Helen Tinney, who was struck by debris due to the use of twice the necessary explosives and inadequate safety measures, leading to a lawsuit against the involved parties. This incident highlighted significant negligence in public safety protocols during demolition events, as the exclusion zone was not properly enforced, allowing a large crowd to gather too close to the site.

This is a bot made by [Critique AI](https://critique-labs.ai. If you want vetted information like this on all content you browse, download our extension.)

5

u/BonjinTheMark 3d ago

Well, d’oh now, and be done with ya

4

u/DamageSpecialist9284 3d ago

If u wanna do it right hire the guys that brought down building 7 safely

4

u/Kingkongcrapper 3d ago

For a second there I thought it was a live look at the US economy as the tariffs were announced.

1

u/Anthexistentialist 3d ago

🤣 It's not far off eh?

1

u/Haunting-Ad708 2d ago

Hahahahaaa man that was super silly and funny

1

u/JackfruitRelative396 1d ago

In an Austrian children's program, they presented the profession of “blaster” and only wanted to blow up a small concrete silo, but here the blaster miscalculated by a factor of 10 (!) and blew up part of the adjacent building in the process https://youtu.be/JqQgwKby28M?si=9FdAHIENNpWZtVyZ

1

u/Azula-the-firelord 3d ago

I mean I don't need an expert to know this is way too close. Why do people need teachers for the most basic things

8

u/InquisitorFemboy 3d ago

If you're going to blow up a building, it's your job to make sure no one gets injured or killed. A member of the public isn't required to know how explosives work, or what the safe minimum distance is, even if they want to watch the demolition. It's the demo team's job to make sure no one gets hurt. I hope the people who measured the explosive yield spent many, many years in jail for this.

0

u/Cold_Progress1323 2d ago

Why the hell would they use twice the required amount? It's both dangerous and a waste of money.

2

u/Anthexistentialist 2d ago

They were what the French call 'les incompetents'