German rink collapse kills (at least) three

[muriel_volestrangler]

The roof of an ice rink has collapsed in southern Germany, killing at least three people, police say.

Up to 50 people were inside the ice rink in the Bavarian Alpine town of Bad Reichenhall when the roof caved in under heavy snow, a policeman said.

Some 20 people were missing and up to 25 were injured, said police spokesman Fritz Braun.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4575788.stm

Very bad design if a building in an alpine town can accumulate so much snow that it collapses.

[lebkuchen]

1. I just returned from that region

though in Austria's Tirol. It snowed everyday, and there will be a 1/2 meter dump of snow today alone. When I left, Austrians told me they hadn't had this much snow in 28 years.

And it's only the end of Dec.

We hope there will be no flooding in European cities/towns this year.

Australia's cities are experiencing 110 degree weather.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Worse - there may have been a warning that was not passed on

An official with an ice hockey club said he had been told by authorities half an hour before the accident that a regular practice session for youth players was canceled because there was a risk of collapse. However, "apparently the public skating was still continuing," Thomas Rumpeltes told The AP.

Braun could not immediately confirm a warning had been given.

"I don't have this information," he said. "Until now, there were no indications of a danger of the roof collapsing. The town of Bad Reichenhall did not give us such indications, but we will look into this."

Bayerische Rundfunk radio reported that a supervisor had ordered the last skaters off the ice seconds before the collapse. It also said loud creaking had been heard just before the accident.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/print?id=1463279

[Kellanved]

3. Still looking grim

5 confirmed dead, 25 still reported missing.
The report about the warning has been retracted; apparently they were preparing to remove the snow from the roof and closed the rink because of the scheduled work - not because they were expecting it to collapse.


http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,560106,00.jpg
http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,560087,00.jpg

[Squatch]

4. That's about 20 minutes from where I grew up...

My Mom called me from Augsburg last week, saying that they had to cancel the Christkindlesmarkt one night because of really heavy snow.