German hotel collapse in Moselle Wine Valley claims two lives, traps more

• A hotel in Germany’s Moselle wine valley collapsed overnight, killing two people.
• Four people have been rescued, none with serious injuries.
• The two-story building became unstable after its upper floor collapsed.

A hotel in Germany’s picturesque Moselle wine valley collapsed overnight, killing two people, local police said on Wednesday. Rescuers are working urgently to free the three remaining trapped guests from the rubble.

Rescue operation chief Joerg Teusch reported that responders recovered one woman’s body but have not yet reached the body of the second victim, a man. Four people have been rescued, none with serious injuries, according to Teusch. The operation has been complex because the two-story building became unstable after its upper floor collapsed late on Tuesday.

Among those rescued was a two-year-old child, who was not injured, along with the child’s parents, whom rescuers were able to contact overnight.

Michael Ebling, the interior minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, expressed hope that rescuers would save the remaining three people. He noted that they were working with extreme caution due to the risk of further collapse.

The cause of the accident remains unclear. State prosecutor Peter Fritzen stated that investigations will begin once the rescue operation is complete.

About 250 police officers, firefighters, and paramedics were deployed to the site in the town of Kroev, a popular holiday destination surrounded by the steep, vineyard-covered banks of the Moselle River. Emergency services used a crane and sniffer dogs to assist in the operation.

The incident occurs during the busy summer season when tourists often fill the region’s historic wine taverns.

The hotel that partially collapsed, identified by a Reuters witness as the Reichsschenke “Zum Ritter Goetz,” is named after a medieval knight who is said to have once drunk at its wood-paneled tavern and has been immortalized in a play by Wolfgang von Goethe.

Investigators believe that 14 people were in the hotel when the upper floor caved in, with five escaping without injury. Police reported that they evacuated 31 people from nearby homes for their safety.

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