Builder sends digger into apartment block ‘because he was owed money’

Man is reportedly subcontractor for building’s developer

A man has destroyed a new appartment build with a digger (NonstopNews / Schwarzwaelder Bote)

A builder has driven a digger into a new apartment block to destroy it, claiming it was because he was owed money.

The 47-year-old caused around €500,000 worth of damage to the building complex in Germany, according to police.

Video footage of the incident shows a digger sweeping down on balconies and smashing through windows of the apartment block in Blumberg.

Local police said large parts of the new apartment building in Blumberg in southwest Germany were destroyed.

As well as tearing down balconies, the man also damaged the building’s facade and garages, police said.

The 47-year-old excavator driver, who is reportedly a subcontractor for the building’s developer, claimed he went to destroy the building due to being owed money.

He claimed the outstanding payments had been wrongly withheld from him, according to police.

After wreaking havoc on the building with the digger, the man got into his car and drove away. He later turned himself into police.

There were no people in the block at the time of the incident, which took place on Wednesday evening, police in Baden-Wurttemberg said.

There were initially concerns about gas containers in garages which were damaged, with police cordoning off the area.

Around 50 people gathered to watch events unfold in Vogtgasse in Blumberg, which sits near the Swiss border.

Eyewitnesses said the 47-year-old only stopped destroying the building when the hydraulic hose broke, according to local media reports.

He obtained the digger specifically to damage the building, Schwarzwaelder Bote reported.