BERLIN (AP) — Part of a hotel in a wine town on the Moselle in the west Germany collapsed, killing one person and leaving eight others believed trapped in the wreckage, police said Wednesday.
Fourteen people were in the hotel in Kroev when a floor of the building collapsed around 11 p.m. Tuesday. Police said five people were able to get out unharmed, but nine others were trapped.
Early Wednesday morning, emergency services had confirmed that one person had died, but had not yet recovered the body. They were in contact with some of the eight people believed to still be in the building, some of whom were seriously injured, police said in a statement.
According to the police, a child was among the trapped people. He was physically unharmed and was in contact with emergency services.
According to regional public broadcaster SWR, witnesses said they heard a bang and saw a large cloud of dust when the collapse occurred.
Authorities evacuated 31 people from the area immediately surrounding the damaged building. There was no immediate word on what caused the collapse.
The police spoke of an ‘extremely demanding operation, because emergency services can only enter the building with the utmost caution’. There were around 250 emergency services on site, including drone specialists, and also rescue dogs.
Kroev is located on a picturesque part of the Moselle, near the larger seaside resort of Traben-Trarbach. It has about 2,200 inhabitants.
