The contractor responsible for the demolition of the Hotel Estoril has been ordered to suspend work after debris fell from the structure and landed outside the boundaries of the site.
The Macau Post Daily reports that nobody was injured in the incident, but the collapsing brickwork fell near a passing vehicle, alarming the driver.
According to the Public Works Bureau, workers failed to stabilise an external wall of the former hotel during the demotion process, pieces of which then hit the pavement and road adjacent to the site.
[See more: Five things you may not know about the Hotel Estoril]
The bureau has demanded that the contractor conduct a full review of its safety procedures and submit a report before demolition work recommences.
Built in the early 1960s, the iconic Hotel Estoril is being cleared to make room for the new four-storey, 15,000-square-metre Central Library.
The hotel’s name reflects the strong connection between its founder, the late gambling magnate Stanley Ho, and the Portuguese seaside town of Estoril, where Ho’s company STDM held a casino concession.
