Cape Town landmark crumbles to dust

The cooling towers pictured one second in to the implosion.

Cape Town's iconic Athlone Cooling Towers have been demolished in a planned implosion.

The pair of power station towers, known affectionately by locals as "the two old ladies" or "the salt and pepper pots", took just eight seconds to crumble to dust.

The detonation occured at 11.56am - four minutes earlier than the expected time - which took scores of onlookers and television viewers by surprise.

"The implosion took place earlier than planned after the blaster considered the possibility of rain and a number of technical factors and took the decision to go ahead in the interests of public safety", the City of Cape Town said in a statement.

The coal-fired power station operated from 1962 until it was decommissioned in 2003.

The site would be redeveloped into another suitable landmark, using the rubble as building materials, city officials said.

A decision on what type of landmark had not yet been made, the city said.

- NZHERALD STAFF