The world's tallest slum is located in Caracas, Venezuela in the half built skyscraper more popularly known as the Tower of David. Inside the building, thousands of Venezuelans have made a make-shift home making it the world's tallest slum. According to the Associated Press, the slum is nearing the end as authorities began evicting the residents on Tuesday.
Media outlets have been reporting the eviction process, citing that police dressed in riot gear and soldiers holding Kalashnikov assault rifles stood on the streets as residents were shifted from the Tower of David to their new apartments (provided by the government) in the town of Cua, which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) south of Caracas. The government minister overlooking the redevelopment of Caracas, Ernesto Villegas, has been quoted telling reporters that the residents were moved because the building was not safe.
Since squatters occupied the abandoned building -- the building was empty after a banking crisis in the 1990s and was nicknamed Tower of David after its financier David Brillembourg -- the tower has had several children fall to their deaths. Additionally, windows and walls are missing in many areas and there is no working plumbing in the building.
Despite the poor living conditions, the residents of the building had built a home and a community. And most of them were not pleased to leave. "I don't know how I'll be able to find a job out there," said Yaritza Casares, 28, to the Associated Press. "We were lucky to live here."
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