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美国爆破专家日前引爆了800多磅（约360公斤）的炸药，将一所面积近百万平方英尺、21层高的医院夷为平地。美国著名的摇滚歌手“猫王”埃尔维斯·普莱斯利就是在这所医院病逝的。
据法新社11月6日报道，这所医院名为巴提斯纪念医院，位于美国田纳西州孟菲斯市。爆破当日，正值该医院建成99周年。6日早晨6点45分爆破开始，大约20秒钟之后，这座建筑倒塌，堆积成约3层楼高的碎石片。
孟菲斯市的很多人都认为巴提斯纪念医院具有历史意义，因此炸毁这所医院也成为当地的一件大事。爆破当天，医院附近地区的房顶上站满了观看者，而医院周围的安全地区也挤满了围观的人群。
该市一些运动组织的吉祥物还借此机会向孩子们发放了气球；一家公司还将这一事件拍摄下来，以供将来使用。
报道说，1977年8月16日，巴提斯纪念医院的医生宣布，“猫王”这位世界著名的摇滚歌手因心脏病发作去世，享年42岁。上个世纪80年代之前，这座面积达92.4万平方英尺（约合85842平方米）的医院都是世界上最大的私人医院；它也是美国今年所爆破的最大一幢建筑物。“猫王”生前常来这所医院就诊。
Demolition experts detonated over 800 pounds (360 kilograms) of explosives, toppling a million-square-foot, 21-story Baptist Memorial Hospital where Elvis Presley died.
Loudspeakers blared Presley's "All Shook Up," as some shed tears and others lounged on lawn chairs, sipping champagne mimosas and bloody Marys.
On August 16, 1977, physicians pronounced rock and roll star Presley dead of heart failure at 42.
The hospital was 99 years old Sunday, when it was blasted at 6:45 am, moments after sunrise. It took 20 seconds to collapse into rubble three stories high.
Many in the city considered the hospital historic. Onlookers packed nearby roofs and crowded the perimeter of the security zone along the street across from the hospital while listening to Jerry Lee Lewis's "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" blaring from the sound stage where administrators counted down to detonation.
Mascots from the city's sports teams handed out balloons to children, some still dressed in pajamas and barely awake until the cacophonous bang that sent the building cascading.
"It's become such a spectator sport," said Douglas Loizeaux, vice president of Maryland-based Controlled Demolition, in charge of the implosion. "People see it on TV so much they forget the inherent danger in implosions."
A production company filmed the event for future use.
Onlookers, like journalist Andrew Kagwa Gathaara, from Nairobi, Kenya, started heading for their cars only minutes after dust cleared.
"I had a lot more expectation," Gathaara said. "It was a bit underwhelming."
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