Fear of collapse of the '21m Messi statue' that struck India, finally demolished... due to poor construction "How did the god of football become a ruin?"

*This content was translated by AI.

A large statue of Lionel Messi, standing about 21 meters tall in India, is ultimately being demolished due to the risk of collapse.

The UK's BBC reported on the 1st (local time) that "a large statue of Messi, about 21 meters tall, built in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, was demolished by authorities after exposing serious safety issues, such as swaying in strong winds."

The sculpture was erected last December to commemorate Messi's 'GOAT (Greatest of All Time)' tour in India. At the time, 45 workers spent 27 days hanging to complete the massive statue using fiberglass and steel structures.

During the unveiling ceremony, Messi could not visit the site directly due to the aftermath of a violent incident that occurred during an event at Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium. Instead, he appeared via video screen and remotely pressed a button to unveil the statue to the public.

However, since last month, residents have flooded authorities with complaints that the statue was swaying heavily in the wind. In response, experts from India's Ministry of Public Works conducted an emergency safety inspection on the 25th of last month. The inspection revealed that the structural safety of the statue had seriously collapsed, and authorities immediately ordered its demolition and relocation.

Before the full-scale demolition, authorities set up barricades around the statue and tightly secured the sculpture with thick nylon ropes to completely control access by people and vehicles.

Sharadwat Mukherjee Seo Beng-gol-ju (Rep.) said, "I personally witnessed the dangerous situation where the statue was swaying violently in the wind," and added, "Although the work is difficult due to the busy roads and subway nearby, we will remove the statue completely in the shortest possible time."

The statue, whose demolition work was completed on the 1st, is currently being moved to another location. Indian local media PTI reported that the Ministry of Public Works will keep the statue for the time being. It was also conveyed that a new construction site has not yet been decided.

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*This content was translated by AI.