Owner’s body uncovered under rubble of collapsed hotel in Germany

Last updated: 2024/08/10 at 9:48 PM

starconnect Published 10 August 2024

A long excavator begins demolition work on the gable of the hotel in Kröv, which collapsed on Tuesday evening, in order to find a missing person. Photo: Harald Tittel/dpa

Admin I Saturday, August 10, 2024

NIDDATAL, Germany – The body of the hotel owner, who died when an entire floor at his inn in the German town of Kröv collapsed, was uncovered on Saturday morning as demolition work continued, the police said in a statement.

The fire brigade and the Federal Agency for Technical Relieve (THW) helped retrieve the body, the police said.

The floor collapsed late on Tuesday evening, killing two people. The other person was a 64-year-old woman whose body was recovered earlier. Police said she was a hotel guest.

Seven others, including a two-year-old child, were trapped after the floor collapsed. Some were rescued by emergency services after hours in the rubble.

Five others had already brought themselves to safety earlier.

The cause of the accident is still unclear. The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation and commissioned an expert to find out how the accident could have happened.

It was initially unclear how long the demolition work would take. A 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 specialized company is being used.

Local residents got some relief, as the work is currently no longer expected to result in more dust, so that the original request to keep windows and doors closed within a radius of 150 metres of the accident site was lifted, at least for now, the police said.

The hotel collapse has hit the wine village in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate hard. A church service is planned for this Sunday.