Death toll rises to two from partial hotel collapse in Germany. Six people have already been rescued, one remains buried

In update

The death toll from the partial collapse of a hotel in the German town of Kröv on the banks of the Moselle River, some 130 kilometres from Frankfurt, has risen to two. The victims are a man and a woman, emergency services confirmed at a press conference.

Four of the eight people who were buriedincluding a two-year-old child, were rescued alive this morning. According to the German daily Bild, the first rescue took place at 8:10 local time (7:10 in Lisbon) and the victim, a man, left the hotel on a stretcher. The child, who was sleeping wrapped in a blanket, was then pulled from the rubble, together with his mother and another woman.

Later in the afternoon, the boy’s father was also rescued. He is seriously injured and taken to hospital, but his life is not in danger. German media reports that the family is from the Netherlands.

A sixth person was later rescued. This means that – and taking into account that of the eight people still buried this morning, one died – only one person trapped in the rubble remains alive.

[Já saiu o segundo episódio de “Um rei na boca do Inferno”, o novo podcast Plus do Observador que conta a história de como os nazis tinham um plano para raptar em Portugal, em julho de 1940, o rei inglês que abdicou do trono por amor. Pode ouvir aqui, no Observador, e também na Apple Podcasts, no Spotify e no YouTube. Também pode ouvir aqui o primeiro episódio. ]

Rescue operations, which are still ongoing, are complicated because “the entire structure of the building looks like a house of cards.” “If we play the wrong card, the building will definitely collapse,” said Jörg Teusch, one of the rescuers on the ground, quoted by the German newspaper Die Welt.

Authorities admit that the rescue operations are “a race against time”. At this moment, and after the recovery of the body of one of the dead, only one person remains in the rubble, who is seriously injured and is in contact with the emergency services.

There were 14 people inside the hotel when, at around 11pm local time (one hour behind in Lisbon), part of the top floor collapsed. Five people managed to escape unharmed. Due to concerns that other parts of the building could collapse, neighboring homes were evacuated.

German police, who warned that “this is an extremely demanding operation,” reported that 31 residents of the hotel’s vicinity were evicted from their homes.

The causes of the partial collapse are still unknown. According to the German press, the hotel was built in the 17th century and renovated in the 1980s, when a second floor was added.

Authorities have revealed that work was being carried out at the hotel on the eve of the collapse. Whether this is related to the partial collapse will only be determined by the investigations and expert reports that will be carried out in the coming days.