Ice rink roof collapses

Sueddeutsche Zeitung - Eissporthalle in Bad Reichenhall eingestürzt


Maybe fifty people injured.

Too much snow may be the reason.

Blimey. They've had a couple of them in Russia but wouldn't have thought it would happen here.

Yahoo BBC

Jebuz...Yahoo says 4 confirmed dead and probably more to come.

br-online.de have got some pictures from the outside of the place

Hope this count stays at 4 people...

P

Had some friends involved in an avalanche nearby to Bad Reichenhall where they live. Leo and Christine who are good friends of mine have thankfully survived-looks like 3 of their friends didnt sadly. If anybody is going in the mountains have fun but be careful as an avalanche can hit anytime at the moment!

it's at least 11 people dead now

Its pretty sad and shocking espically when you see things like this on the BBC website

bloody nora!
that's outrageous

From the same article, next paragraph -

Anyone know how much snow fell yesterday in Bad Reichenhall? I ask because the place gets a lot of snow and you would think things would be built with this in mind, so it must have been quite a dump of heavy wet snow.

This is awful, and made worse by the children killed.

When the news broke, Madame Sin was listening to BR2. When we discussed the incident, she told me that this Ice Rink had been scheduled to be demolished because of the unsafe roof in heavy snow conditions.

Anybody know any more about this angle?

This all takes me back to a childhood summer in Connecticut. My memory is hazy now, but all the talk when I arrived was of something similar happening there. It would have been circa 1978, and possibly Hartford, Conn. Anybody?

Link for Sin.

I got a panic call from my Ma in California, she was making sure my brother and I were not there. And yes, they had been discussing tearing down the complex and replacing it for the last few years.

Cheers Keydeck. At least my long-term memory is still intact huh?

Was driving home along the A8 last night, and it was ambulance after ambulance heading in that direction, I initially thought it was a nasty accident on the autobahn, but it must have been this. I saw 15-25 ambulances in total I would say.

Same here Kza. We were stuck in the traffic heading into Munich, 9hrs queue, blah.

Pretty horrible seeing all those ambulances and cop cars going past though and knowing where they were likely headed. Probably saw twice as many as you mention going past in convoys over a period of an hour. Yuck.

@showem, it says in the Guardian that 12 inches of snow fell yesterday in the region

Breaking news: They have to interrupt the rescue attempt as the outer walls of the building have shifted 2 cm outwards and threaten to collapse as well.

I often hear this phrase, but I never really see why it is worse that a child gets killed than, say, a young adult. Its a bit like the tsunami being thought of as worse because there were some western people killed IMO. I think almost all deaths, esp in accidents, are pretty tragic. Maybe I'm just insensitive though

This is getting ridiculous: They have now cleared the train station in Traunstein because the roof there is threatening to collapse. Lots of the trains lines through there are closed due to snow anyway, but still ... I mean, there is a reason for the Bavarian building style, one of them is enabling the roof to shed rain and snow.
edit: What I mean is, these roofs were not the right kind to withstand snow.

Or even an old adult, really.
I agree with you, actually, BR.
Maybe we're both insensitive

Reuters just reported that the station in Traunstein was closed due to the risk of collapse...!

*Edit*

Süddeutsche just put it online:

Angst vor Einsturz - Traunsteiner Bahnhof wegen Schneelasten geräumt

<------ Horse

Gates are closed.

Seriously unsafe

jebus and holey moley! (got a panicked phone call from my mom last night as well since we were "in the country" until yesterday)

latest count is 11 confirmed dead and 4 missing, suspected dead

Latest from zdf.de

The search has been suspended until around 18.00pm beacuse
it looks like it the roof could collapse completely and they are waiting for new equipment to arrive

it looks fairly completely collapsed on the picture

I am sad to say some frriends of mine have been confirmed as dead after an avalanche near Bad Reichenhall Monday. Simon Weibhauser (23), His Australian Girlfriend Chantel Eastwood (19) and Simons Brother Rupert (25). Simon and Chantel had planned to get married this year as well. Was only in October when I was last in Bad Reichenhall we was talking about Rugby League, Australia 2006 the future etc. I just cant believe it.

I'm really sorry for your loss, Dally M
big hugs from me

terrible Dally. So sorry

That's awful news. So sorry to hear that, Dally M.

Dally M- I am very sorry to hear of your loss.

As many of you old timers will know, the former Herr Indoors comes from Bad Reichenhall.
Watching this come on Channel 4 News when I was in the gym (I'm still in the UK Midlands) caused me to fall off the treadmill, well it isn't often that you see Reichenhall on the news. Or the telly at all.
His immediate family are ok but of course being a small town, everyone knows someone involved.
The rink is about 5mins from his parents and was a place I saw, and sometimes used, often over the years. And seeing people and places you know on TV for such a reason isn't too much fun.
The snow was incredibly wet and heavy and thus relatively unusual for BGL which usually sees heavy snow but not heavy wet snow (the info that I have direct from Reichenhall). In any case, there is more news to come on the subject but only after the recovery at site is complete.

They have just brought body 13 out of the wreckage, a woman and child are still missing.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17727178-2,00.html

I`m in Australia over Christmas and just read it in the Australian news. It appears Chantal, her Fiancee and her Fiancee´s brother weren`t actually involved in the roof collapse, but were hiking and hit by the avalanche on it`s way down.

My condolences .. an awful way to go .. :-(

yes, 2 separate incidents on the same day in the same area

7 Friends survived- Obviously they are devastated. Will likely be down there this weekend. Chantal was a great friendly person and Simon was a top bloke. He often wore a NSW State of Origin jumper too wind her up as she being a Queenslander! I didnt know Simons brother. I just hope it was a quick death.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your friends Dally M. Condolences to you, your friends and their families.

They think they have all of the missing persons now, body 15 has been found. They are sending the dogs in again, though, in case anyone is still in the wreckage who hasn't been missed by anybody outside.

im really sorry too :-( and to their families back home