Malaysia tears down iconic mural wall at prison

Bulldozers tore down a boundary wall famed for murals mostly painted by anonymous convicts at a 115-year-old Malaysian prison that once held World War II Allied soldiers.

Hundreds of onlookers watched as excavators broke through the eastern wall of Pudu Jail on Monday night, leaving many heritage lovers aghast at the loss of an iconic structure for commercial development.

Authorities last year began tearing down structures inside the sprawling complex on the edge of Kuala Lumpur's most famous shopping area Bukit Bintang. But that was done away from public gaze and did not attract as much attention as the demolition of the mural wall.