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Reuters
Reuters
Business
By Stephane Mahe

France tears down beach apartment block as rising sea bites

FILE PHOTO: People look at the demolition of the Signal building, a seaside block of flats which had to be evacuated in 2014 due to erosion on the Atlantic Ocean coast, in Soulac-sur-Mer, France, February 9, 2023. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

When it was built at the end of the 1960s on one of France's most glorious Atlantic coastlines, the beach was over 200 metres (656 ft) away. Today, the hulk of the 80-flat Le Signal apartment block perches precariously on a dune just metres from the water and local authorities are tearing it down before it tumbles.

Four stories high, it targeted vacationers in Soulac-sur-Mer, at the northernmost tip of the Gironde estuary in southwest France, known for its broad golden beaches and pine forests.

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