Updated: January 28, 2013, 12:00 AM
In pictures: Dubai's Hard Rock Cafe demolished
Images of the orginal Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai, United Arab Emirates under demolition on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Photo: Charles Crowell for The National
A wrecking ball crane was erected early in the morning and by lunchtime around a quarter of the back portion of the building on Sheikh Zayed Road was a ruin of broken masonry.
Demolition work began today to level the Hard Rock Café, a popular expatriate hotspot that once marked the extent of Dubai's urban sprawl.
#Before demolition we carried out an extensive survey and found no asbestos or harmful materials," the spokesman said.
A spokesman for Al Rasheed Building Demolition, the company tasked to carry out the work, said it would take around a month to tear down the building.
The demolition is being carried out close to a main road, but the spokesman said the 3.5 tonne wrecking ball was only striking the building from the rear, where an area of 100 metres had been cleared to contain any falling rubble.