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3 missing, many escaped after Cologne building collapsed
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-04 14:44

COLOGNE – Cologne's six-story city archive building rumbled and then collapsed into a pile of rubble Tuesday. Many people inside were able to flee to safety, but rescue workers said they were searching for nine people missing from nearby buildings.


A frame grab taken from video footage shows an aerial view of the remains of the former town archive of the German city of Cologne, following the collapse of the building March 3, 2009. [Agencies]
The collapse, which occurred about 2 p.m., also dragged down part of two neighboring buildings in western German city. Fire department spokesman Daniel Leupold said nine people who may have been in one of those buildings — which contained apartments and an amusement arcade — were reported missing.

"Suddenly there was a rumbling, as if a train were going past," witness Alfred Hoovestaedt, who works nearby, told n-tv television. "Then the noise got louder and louder, and we heard vibration. Then, in seconds, the whole area was covered in a haze."


A concrete mixing carrier truck is pictured in front of the remains of the collapsed building of the former town archive of the German city of Cologne, March 3, 2009. [Agencies]
Florian Hacke, who lives two buildings away, said he ran out of his house after he heard a creaking noise and cracks opened up in his ceiling.

Alerted by the sounds that preceded the collapse, staff and visitors at the Cologne archive were able to get out in time, fire department director Stephan Neuhoff said.

"So far, there are no injured," he said.

It was unclear exactly how many people were inside at the time of the collapse. Two construction workers initially reported as missing were among those who managed to escape.

The modern-style building opened in 1971.

Rubble from the collapse spilled out up to 70 yards (meters) away, police spokesman Wolfgang Baldes said. The roof of a nearby subway construction site also collapsed, but officials said they did not believe anyone was trapped in there.

Work was being done on a new subway line under the street on which the building stood, but the cause of the collapse not yet clear, fire department spokesman Daniel Leupold said. About 250 firefighters rushed to the scene.

"I am not aware of any work at the moment that might have caused this," said Gudrun Meyer, a spokeswoman for the subway company.

In 2004, the tower of a nearby church leaned about 3 feet (1 meter) to one side, an incident blamed on underground construction work.

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