Concrete dust and smoke spread across the street in the early evening hours, causing passers by to run for their lives as the largest of the three buildings, a 20 story commercial tower called Edificio Liberdade (The Liberty Building), imploded right outside the famous Municipal Theater in downtown Rio.

FORBES: Three Buildings Collapse In Rio de Janeiro

They want about 4, 000 tombstone-like concrete columns of differing heights spread over the site.

ECONOMIST: Remembrance and repentance

But soon enough, crumbling concrete gave way to thick forest, spread across a series of river valleys.

WSJ: Armenia's Ancient Monasteries