KROV: Two people died and several others were trapped under rubble after a hotel partially collapsed in western Germany’s Moselle valley on Wednesday.
A woman and a man died in the accident, police spokesman Joerg Teusch told reporters on Wednesday.
Six others were rescued over the course of the day, but one person remained trapped late Wednesday, authorities said later.
A man, a child and two women were the first to be rescued with minor injuries on Wednesday.
But by mid-afternoon, two more people had been rescued, leaving only one person trapped inside.
Twenty-one residents from the local neighborhood were evacuated and about 250 search and rescue workers were on the scene.
The Moselle Valley, which includes parts of Germany, France and Luxembourg, is a popular holiday destination with picturesque vineyards and traditional taverns.
According to police, the basic building of the hotel was built in the 17th century, but two and a half floors were added in the 1980s.
An investigation into the cause of the collapse has been launched, prosecutor Peter Fritzen said in Kroevo.
Autopsies of the deceased were also performed. Details of the victims’ identities have not yet been released.
Interior Secretary Nancy Faeser called the images of the collapse “shocking.”
“My sympathies and thoughts go out to the families of those killed,” she said, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
The woman was named as 23-year-old Edi Hoefnagel-Visser, a journalist for the local newspaper Het Urkerland.
