- Two dead in hotel collapse in Mosel village of Kröv
In the collapse of a hotel in Kröv on the Mosel, two people have been killed. It was a woman and a man, said incident commander Jörg Teusch. As the fire and disaster protection inspector of the Bernkastel-Wittlich district said, the woman's body has already been recovered. Three people presumed to be severely injured are still trapped.
In the morning, rescue forces were able to remove four people, including a two-year-old child and the mother, from the rubble. There is no initial information about their condition. Due to the unstable condition of the building, the work of the rescuers is difficult. Teusch described the building structure as resembling a house of cards. An entire floor has collapsed.
What happened?
Late on Tuesday evening, parts of the hotel collapsed - only five people could escape from the building. Eight people were trapped in the rubble, some with severe injuries. The rescue forces quickly made contact with some of them via mobile phone. How the partial collapse of the building could have happened was initially unclear. Residents had called the emergency number late on Tuesday evening, according to the police.
Police: "Extremely challenging operation"
At the scene of the accident, it can be seen that parts of the multi-story half-timbered building have collapsed. Concrete rubble lies on the ground. "Due to the damage, this is an extremely challenging operation, as the building can only be entered by the rescue forces with the utmost caution," it said in a police statement. The spokesman for the technical operations management of the Bernkastel-Wittlich district, Gregor Zehe, said: "The rescue is incredibly difficult." In the unstable situation, one must look exactly at what step to take. According to Teusch, attempts were made for several hours to create an access.
Around 250 helpers, including firefighters and the Technical Relief Agency (THW), are on site - including special forces and a search and rescue dog unit. The site of the accident is also being examined with drones.
Kröv is located on the Middle Mosel in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate. Especially now in the summer season, many tourists are in the region known for its wine-growing.
The other emergency services, such as paramedics, were also called to aid in the rescue operation. Despite the efforts of the other specialists, the conditions were so dire that only limited progress could be made in extricating those still trapped.
