Two dead and others trapped under collapsed hotel in Germany

Around 9pm on Tuesday, a hotel in the German city of Kröv, identified by witnesses as the Reichsschenke “Zum Ritter Goetz”, according to Reuters, partially collapsed, killing two people and trapping others under the rubble, with authorities still trying to get the victims out.

Because only part of the building collapsed, 5 of the 14 people who were inside at the time, but in the areas less affected, were able to get out unharmed. Police has meanwhile managed to rescue a few others, but some remain stuck under the debris.

Around 250 police officers, firefighters, paramedics and technical relief workers, including special forces, rescue dog teams and drone units, were deployed to the site. They have managed to take out a 2-year-old with no injuries and his mother, a 23-year-old Dutch woman, with minor injuries, on Wednesday morning. The child’s 26-year-old father was taken out later the same day, but his condition is not yet known.

“I have never been so happy to see a stranger’s child”, rescue operation chief Jörg Teusch. “We all had tears in our eyes and I still feel the same now. The whole story has a very emotional component, because when we arrived, when we looked at the building, it looked like we weren’t taking anyone out.”

One of the bodies of the dead was also recovered, with the other still under rubble. At least two more people are also still stuck, reportedly with serious injuries, but rescuers have said they managed to establish contact with them via phone and determine their exact location among the ruins.

A core drill is being used from above to try and access those stuck, but rescue operations have to continue very cautiously as the building is still unstable and is moving 4 millimetres every hour, according to CNN. The risk of the hotel crumbling even more has prompted authorities to evacuate 21 residents from nearby buildings as well.

“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”, Teusch explained.

The city of Kröv is situated on the Moselle River, a poplar summer destination in Germany for wine lovers, as the river’s banks are covered in vineyards. The ground floor of the hotel dates back to the 17^th century, with the upper two floors added during extensive renovation works in 1980, according to Trier Police. Although the cause of the incident is not yet known, CNN has reported that construction work was being carried out on the building on Tuesday.