Crowne Plaza Implosion

November 15, 2007 - VIDEO OF THE IMPLOSION IS NOT AVAILABLE

On Sunday, November 11, 2007 the former Crowne Plaza Hotel was imploded as part of a planned demolition project. This event was well covered by various media outlets and attended by numerous spectators. On Tuesday, November 13 an amateur video of the implosion was turned over to the Houston Police Department and submitted for forensic review.

On Wednesday morning the Homicide Division started an investigation to determine if someone was in the structure when it was demolished. The video segment is very short and not conclusive but does seem to show a figure running on one of the top floors just before the explosion and seconds before the structure collapsed. Still photos of the operation were also examined, however, no images of any person were found in the photos.

The demolition company was asked to halt all its activities and the site is being searched to determine if a body is contained therein. Company officials advised that all of their workers are accounted for and the building was searched at least twice before the blast. Officials advised that due to the method used to demolish the building there is very little or no chance that if an individual was inside, he could have survived the collapse.

Because of the possibility that a person was in the structure at the time of the implosion, the excavation of the site is being conducted as a search.

NOTE: In order to see the image that HPD investigators are looking at, look at the “square” that is 8 spaces from the left, and 5 spaces up. In this space, there is an image that appears to be a person running in a right to left direction. The image can only be seen in this section.

The video contains an overview of the implosion followed by another recording that is a “zoomed in” version.

For additional information, please contact the HPD Public Affairs Division at 713-308-3200.