Kröv, August 12, 2024, The Europe Today: Local authorities announced on Monday that additional demolition work is necessary to determine the cause of last week’s tragic hotel collapse in Kröv, a small town in western Germany. The collapse, which occurred late on August 6, claimed two lives and left several others injured.
According to a police spokesperson, surveyors from the local building authority are still meticulously inspecting the rubble. “It’s going to take a while yet,” the spokesperson stated, indicating the complexity of the ongoing investigation.
The hotel, situated on the picturesque Mosel River—an area renowned for its vineyards and popularity among tourists—suffered a catastrophic collapse of an entire floor. The incident resulted in the deaths of a 64-year-old woman and the 59-year-old hotel owner. Seven others were rescued from the debris.
Among the survivors was a 26-year-old Dutch father, who was seriously injured and placed in an induced coma at a hospital in Trier. On Monday, he was transferred to a specialist clinic in the Netherlands for further treatment. “His condition is not good,” a police spokesman reported on Sunday evening, though his wife later shared on social media that he was half-awake and stable for the time being.
A crowdfunding campaign in the Netherlands has raised over €54,000 ($59,000) to cover the costs of his medical transfer and ongoing treatment, as the family’s insurance does not cover such emergencies abroad.
As investigations continue, attention has turned to the structural integrity of the surrounding buildings, some of which have shown increased damage since the collapse. The collapsed hotel’s structure, dating back to the 17th century, had undergone significant modifications, including the installation of concrete ceilings when two additional floors were added in 1980. Local fire and catastrophe protection inspector Jörg Teusch noted that the investigations would determine “whether something went wrong in the substructure of the building.”
The community of Kröv remains in shock as they await further details from the ongoing investigation.
