Berlin: Two people were killed and several are feared to be trapped after a portion of a hotel in a winemaking town on the Mosel River in western Germany collapsed, authorities said Wednesday.
Fourteen people were inside a hotel in Kroev when one story of the building collapsed around 11 pm (local time) on Tuesday. According to police, five individuals, who were not in the part that collapsed, managed to escape uninjured. However, the others were trapped.
An operation is currently underway to rescue the trapped individuals, but efforts are hampered by the collapse, which left two ceilings lying on top of each other. Joerg Teusch, fire and disaster protection inspector for the Bernkastel-Wittlich district, said at a news conference that two people have died. The cause of the structural collapse has not yet been determined.
Regional public broadcaster SWR said that witnesses reported hearing a bang and seeing a large cloud of dust at the time of the collapse.
“There was no option (to use) stairs, house entrances, doors or windows, because they were simply no longer there,” Teusch said at a news conference.
“We have to proceed with caution because the entire building structure is like a house of cards. If we pull on the wrong card, this building is sure to collapse.”
Authorities evacuated 31 people from the area immediately around the damaged building. Police said that about 250 emergency workers, including drone specialists, were at the scene, as well as rescue dogs.
Kroev is on a picturesque section of the Mosel near the larger resort town of Traben-Trarbach. It has about 2,200 inhabitants.
(With AP inputs)
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