In the present paper the risk of progressive collapse of beam-column RC (reinforced concrete) subassemblies considering a column removal scenario is analysed. This paper presents an experimental program carried out to study the behaviour of a 1/4 scaled subassemblies subjected to the sudden removal of a middle supporting column. The tested RC structures are composed of three columns and two beams. The dynamic loading applied to the middle column leads to the simultaneous creation of four plastic hinges that develop on each beam-column join. The growth of damage within the concrete structure is observed by means of a Digital Image Correlation technique. The instrumentation (force cell, laser interferometer) used in the experiments provides the dynamic response of the structure. Moreover, a finite element code (Abaqus explicit) has been employed to simulate the behaviour of the beam column subassemblies subjected to dynamic loading. The numerical calculations have been compared to experimental results in terms of dynamic response and propagation of cracking in the structure.