Police announced Friday that demolition work has begun at the site of a collapsed hotel in western Germany. The aim is to recover a second body, believed to be that of the hotel owner.
It is not yet clear where the man’s body is, a police spokesperson said.
An entire floor of the hotel collapsed late Tuesday night, killing two people. Seven others were injured and rescued after being trapped in the rubble for hours. The body of a woman has already been recovered.
An excavator with an extra-long arm started at the gable of the building in the town of Kröv, on the Moselle. Heavy equipment from a specialist company will then gradually make its way forward.
The demolition is necessary because otherwise the rescue workers will not be able to safely recover the man’s remains, the police spokeswoman said. An expert who visited the location on Wednesday evening advised the demolition.
The scene of the accident was cordoned off within a radius of 150 metres due to demolition work.
