German hotel built on Mosel river collapses; leaves two dead, several trapped

Part of a hotel in a winemaking town on the Mosel River in western Germany collapsed, leaving two people dead and several others trapped in the wreckage, authorities said Wednesday.

Fourteen people were in the hotel in Kroev when one story of the building collapsed at about 11 p.m. Tuesday. Police said five were able to get out of the building unhurt because they weren’t in the part that collapsed. But others were trapped.

An operation is ongoing to try to save them. But reaching them is proving to be difficult, because the collapse of one story left two ceilings lying on top of each other, according to Joerg Teusch, fire and disaster protection inspector for the Bernkastel-Wittlich district.

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He said at a news conference that two people had died. He said the cause of the structural collapse hasn’t yet been determined.

Regional public broadcaster SWR said that witnesses reported hearing a bang and seeing a large cloud of dust at the time of the collapse.

“There was no option (to use) stairs, house entrances, doors or windows, because they were simply no longer there,” Teusch said at a news conference.

“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.” Authorities evacuated 31 people from the area immediately around the damaged building.

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Police said that about 250 emergency workers, including drone specialists, were at the scene, as well as rescue dogs.

Kroev is on a picturesque section of the Mosel near the larger resort town of Traben-Trarbach. It has about 2,200 inhabitants.