Two people have died and several others remain trapped following the partial collapse of a hotel in Germany.
Authorities said 14 people were in the hotel at the time – in the wine-making town of Kroev in Rhineland-Palatinate – when one floor of the building collapsed at around 11pm local time on Tuesday.
The body of a woman has been recovered but emergency workers have not yet been able to reach the second victim, a male, rescue operation chief Joerg Teusch told reporters.
“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,” he said.
“There was no option [to use] stairs… entrances, doors or windows, because they were simply no longer there.”
Five people are understood to have got out unhurt, while four others were rescued including a two-year-old.
The child’s mother was also pulled to safety, however the father is among those who remain trapped under the rubble.
“We all had tears in our eyes and I still feel the same now… because when we arrived, when we looked at the building, it looked like we weren’t taking anyone out,” Mr Teusch added.
Around 250 emergency workers, including drone specialists and teams with rescue dogs, are at the scene.
Local broadcaster SWR reported witnesses heard a bang and saw a large cloud of dust at the time of the collapse.
“Due to the nature of the damage, this is an extremely demanding deployment, because emergency personnel can only enter the building with the greatest caution,” police said in a statement, adding contact has been made with some of those who remain trapped.
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The cause of the incident is being investigated, authorities said, adding 31 people from neighbouring buildings were evacuated.
Kroev – in the Mosel region in southwestern Germany – is a popular tourist destination and sits near the larger resort town of Traben-Trarbach.
