Infamous Jakarta red-light district destroyed by bulldozers

One of Indonesia’s oldest red-light districts was demolished Monday in an operation overseen by hundreds of police and troops, as authorities press on with a plan to close all brothel areas in the Muslim-majority country.

Dozens of illegal bars and brothels along a polluted riverside strip in north Jakarta – known locally as Kalijodo – were reduced to rubble by excavators.

The bars – many marked by neon beer signs and illustrations of beautiful women luring men – were torn down by the machines in a matter of minutes, leaving behind nothing but splintered wood, brick and old mattresses.

READ MORE: Indonesia steps up campaign against prostitution, plans to close all red-light districts by 2019

Elsewhere police searched a three-storey hotel for any remaining residents before a digger ripped the entire structure to the ground with a spectacular crash.

North Jakarta Mayor Rustam Effendi, who oversaw the demolition, said the buildings were illegal and the demolition would make way for a public park.

“There was open prostitution there and all kinds of other things as a result, like liquor,” he said.

During the eviction of residents over the past week, police seized and destroyed large quantities of alcohol.