Hotel collapse in Germany Demolition of rubble continues after recovery of bodies

How could the serious hotel collapse in Kröv on the Moselle come about? Following the recovery of the second body, this question is also occupying the helpers.

DPA

10.08.2024, 21:23

dpa

Following the recovery of the second body from the rubble of the collapsed hotel in the Moselle town of Kröv, the operation is now concentrating on finding the cause of the accident. To this end, demolition work has continued. They are also being used to prepare an expert report on the cause of the accident. The aim is also to eliminate the risk of collapse, said a police spokeswoman. It was also necessary to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the collapse site, which had been confiscated by the public prosecutor's office.

During the night, the second dead man was recovered; he was the missing hotel operator, according to the police. The man was 59 years old. In addition to the hotel operator, a 64-year-old woman, whose body had already been recovered earlier, also died. According to the police, she was a hotel guest.

A total of nine people were buried in the accident, including a two-year-old child. Some of the seven survivors were rescued after hours in the rubble by the emergency services. Five others had already managed to get themselves to safety.

Expert continues cause investigation on Monday - "new phase"

Work was initially scheduled to continue until the early evening, but it was initially unclear whether it would be resumed on Sunday. It is also still unclear how long the demolition work will take in total. The police spokeswoman said it was now a matter of removing the roof gable and the roof and clearing away the rubble so that the expert investigating the cause of the accident "can enter the next phase on Monday". A long-boom crane from a specialist company will also be used again. Containers will be provided for the disposal of debris and rubble.

All survivors rescuedRecovery of further dead planned after hotel collapse in Germany

The work is currently no longer expected to result in increased dust formation, so that the original request to keep windows and doors closed within a radius of 150 meters of the accident site can be lifted until further notice, the police said.

Operation also an "exceptional situation" for helpers

According to head of operations Jörg Teusch, the collapse also presented the emergency services with special challenges. "Despite the tragedy", it was good that the second casualty could be recovered early in the morning, said the fire and disaster control inspector for the Bernkastel-Wittlich district. It was not clear when exactly this would be possible, as the building structure had collapsed massively. The rescue was also important for the relatives. They were happy to be able to end the operation now. "Everything else that happens now is in the hands of the investigating authorities, i.e. the police and the public prosecutor's office, who are now working with the expert to determine how the building collapsed in the first place."

Not an everyday assignment for helpers

This Sunday, a church service is planned in Kröv to "pause and reflect together", to which everyone is welcome according to the invitation from the police chaplaincy. During such an operation, "a lot of adrenaline is involved", which can also lead to traumatic events for the emergency services, said Teusch. The service offers them and the emergency chaplains the opportunity to come together.

The operation was not an everyday occurrence and was an "exceptional situation". The service on Sunday and a breakfast afterwards offered the opportunity to talk to each other in peace for the first time since the deployment began. "All of this will be the first step towards returning to normality for the helpers tomorrow."

Emergency services are also concerned about the cause of the accident

The question of why the hotel collapsed is also on the minds of the helpers. "It is of course very unusual for a building to collapse just like that, without a storm, without water, without an explosion or anything else that could have contributed to it," said Teusch. "There must be a cause and yes, we will all be interested in that." The expert will have a lot of data to evaluate, so "it may be weeks or months before a cause is found, if it is found at all", said Teusch.

During the salvage and demolition work, the expert had visited the site of the accident on Thursday and was also on site on Friday. He had also recommended the demolition in order to be able to safely recover the remaining deceased. An entire floor of the building had collapsed. The cause of the accident is still unclear. The public prosecutor's office has opened a death investigation and commissioned the expert to find out how the accident could have happened.