France knocks down seaside building symbolic of coastal erosion
When the four-storey building was built behind the beach in the southwestern Gironde town of Soulac-sur-Mer in 1967, it stood 200 metres from the shoreline, but had to be evacuated in 2014 after the sea crept to within 20 metres.
FrenchFrench authorities on Friday started demolishing a seaside block of flats that has come to symbolise the country's battle against climate change-linked coastal erosion., reports FRANCE 24.
When the four-storey building was built behind the beach in the southwestern Gironde region in 1967, it stood 200 metres (220 yards) away from the shoreline.
But its 75 or so flats in the town of Soulac-sur-Mer had to be evacuated in 2014 after the sea crept up to within 20 metres of the structure.
Local authorities scrambled to rid the building of asbestos in the following years, before a huge mechanical digger took a swing at its facade on Friday, as several former residents looked on.
"It's the memories of four generations" that are being destroyed, said 76-year-old Vincent Duprat, one of the home owners.
