Further demolition work is needed to determine the cause of the deadly hotel collapse in the western German town of Kröv last week, local authorities said on Monday.
A police spokesman said that experts from the local building authority were still examining the rubble.
“It will take some time,” he said.
On the night of August 6, an entire floor of the hotel collapsed on the picturesque Moselle River, a popular tourist destination and famous vineyard.
Two people – a 64-year-old woman and the 59-year-old hotel owner – were killed, and seven other people were eventually rescued from the rubble.
One of them, a 26-year-old father from the Netherlands, was taken to a hospital in nearby Trier with serious injuries and placed in an artificial coma. “His condition is not good,” a police spokesman said on Sunday evening.
On Monday he was flown to a special clinic in the Netherlands where he will undergo surgery.
Crowdfunding campaign raises 50,000 euros
The man’s 23-year-old wife, who was pulled from the rubble unharmed along with the couple’s two-year-old son, wrote on social media that her husband was half awake and they were able to communicate.
She said his condition was currently stable but doctors had warned her that this could change and asked people to pray for him.
At a church service in Kröv on Sunday, relatives expressed their thanks to the rescue workers via video link. “We trust that he will get well again,” said the man’s father. “The doctors are doing well.”
Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign in the Netherlands has raised over 54,000 euros (59,000 dollars) to cover the costs of the flight transfer and further treatment.
According to Dutch media reports, the family’s insurance does not cover such emergencies abroad.
The hotel structure dates back to the 17th century
Investigations are also underway in Kröv into damage to neighboring buildings. Among other things, small cracks can be seen in the walls, which appear to have gotten larger since the collapse.
According to local fire and disaster protection inspector Jörg Teusch, the foundations of the collapsed hotel date back to the 17th century.
The building originally had wooden ceilings, but when two floors were added in 1980, concrete ceilings were installed.
Teusch said the investigations would show “whether something went wrong with the substructure of the building.”
mf/wmr (dpa, AFP)
