Neighbours are clearing rubble outside an old building in downtown Yangon after a thick slab of its moss-covered façade along with its balconies collapsed and crushed three cars during a thunderstorm last night.
Kyaw Swah, 47, a cargo ship worker who lives opposite the decrepit two-storey building on the upper block of Pazundaung township’s 51st street, said the building had been vacant for 15 to 20 years and no one was hurt in the collapse.
“I saw lightening brighten the sky at about 8pm and then there was a big crash,” he told Myanmar Mix. “After that, I came outside to see the front of the building on top of three cars.”
This morning bits of brickwork were hanging from the structure as Kyaw Swah swept the road of the debris.
He said the fire brigade attended the scene 10 minutes after the incident and were returning today to clear the mess.
“I have lived here since I was a boy. At that time, people were living in this building. It must be over 100 years old. We lived in a similar building but it was knocked down two years ago and this new apartment block was built,” he said, pointing at his home.
One of the damaged vehicles belongs to a resident in his apartment block, said Kyaw Swah, while the other two cars belong to the manager and co-owner of Hotel 51, which is next to the dilapidated building.
A few doors down are a Buddhist monastery and the Sri Varada Raja Perumal temple, which dates to 1928. Sandbags surrounded both buildings, serving as protection from flooding after heavy rains.
Some colonial-era buildings in the downtown area sit in states of disrepair, with crumbling roofs and sagging windows.
In 2017, an apartment building on 41st street caved in, and in 2010 a young girl died under the debris of a collapsed three-storey structure on 30th street.
