Moment 22-storey skyscraper imploded in seconds after hurricane damage

A 22-storey skyscraper was imploded in seconds in Louisiana on Saturday, 7 September, after sitting vacant for almost four years.

The Hertz Tower — once an icon of the Lake Charles skyline for more than four decades — had been damaged by a series of hurricanes that ripped through the southwest of the state in 2020.

It became an eyesore, its windows shattered and covered in shredded tarps.

Spectators watched as the tower, formerly known as the Capital One Tower, came crashing down after a demolition crew set off explosions inside, falling in a large cloud of dust into a pile around five storeys high.