Harald Tittel/dpa via APISomeone is removed from the building
NOS News•today, 07:20•Adjusted today, 11:53
In the German town of Kröv on the Moselle River, a hotel collapsed last night. Two people were killed, the police reported. The rescue operation is still in full swing, two people are still trapped under the rubble.
There were also three Dutch people from Urk in the hotel, the newspaper reports The Urkerland. It concerns a 23-year-old woman, a 26-year-old man and their child of almost 2. The woman and the child were already pulled from the rubble early this morning, the man has also been rescued by the emergency services. He is said to be seriously injured.
Little is known about the dead, only that they are a man and a woman. According to the emergency services, the two died immediately when the hotel collapsed. One of them could not be located for a long time; the emergency services had difficulty entering the building due to the risk of collapse.
Construction work
Yesterday, there was still construction work on the building, the fire department reports. Whether this has anything to do with the collapse is still being investigated. The building dates from the 17th century, but two floors were added in the 1980s. The ceiling is made of concrete to support the extra floors.
Images show the first people being taken out of the building:
Emergency services rescue people from partially collapsed hotel in Germany
There is still a danger of collapse. “It’s like a house of cards that could collapse,” a fire and disaster inspector says at a press conference about the rescue operation. According to public broadcaster Südwestrundfunk (SWR), it is proceeding with difficulty because the hotel is still moving. A reporter on site reports that sensors have shown that the hotel is moving 4 millimeters per hour.
Emergency services have been in constant contact with the people trapped in the building, with special microphones installed to enable communication.
Fourteen people inside
According to the German police, the hotel collapsed last night around 23:00. At that time, a total of fourteen people were said to have been inside. Five of them were able to escape in time.
Christian Schulz/Photo Hosser/dpaThe hotel has partially collapsed
The devastation is clearly visible in photos that were taken. There are large concrete blocks and other debris around the building. In the immediate vicinity, 31 people have been evacuated. They are housed in a building in the area.
Eyewitnesses also describe the devastation at the site of the hotel. A reporter from the public broadcaster SWR spoke to them. They said that around 23:00 a loud bang was heard, followed by a cloud of smoke. A guest said that he was using the toilet when the floor collapsed beneath him. Inside, in the part of the hotel that is still standing, everything is full of dust and rubble, the broadcaster reports.
NOSKröv is located on the Moselle
It is not yet known what caused the hotel to collapse. Police have asked people to avoid the area as much as possible. Roads to the city are closed.
The town of Kröv is located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and has about 2200 inhabitants. It is a tourist resort with hotels and campsites in a popular wine region. Many Dutch people also come here, because it is fairly close to the Dutch border, about 2.5 hours drive from Maastricht.