Sixty-six people were confirmed dead after the snow-laden roof of an exhibition centre collapsed in Poland's worst disaster in almost two decades.
After a night in which temperatures reached minus 15 Celsius (5 Fahrenheit), rescue workers today began winding down their search for survivors among the rubble.
Dozens of distraught relatives and survivors gathered near the site to await news of their friends and loved ones who had been attending an event for international pigeon enthusiasts in the southern city of Chorzow when the metal roof of the modern building, the size of a soccer field, collapsed yesterday. About 150 people were injured.
Nearly 1,000 police, firefighters, soldiers and workers from local mines worked through the night, deploying cutting equipment and thermal imaging gear to search for survivors.
President Lech Kaczynski said the death toll, which included two children and two foreigners, was unlikely to rise. Officials had earlier feared dozens more were trapped, but the regional fire brigade chief said the chances of finding any more people in the wreckage, dead or alive, were close to nil.
Authorities said 14 foreigners were hospitalised in Poland's worst building collapse and its worst disaster of any kind since a Polish airlines jet crashed in 1987 near Warsaw, killing 183. Survivors said the toll could have been even worse.
"Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday there were 7,000 to 8,000 people at the show," Andrzej Skrzys, one of the event's organisers told Reuters.
Two foreigners, a Czech and Belgian, were confirmed among the dead by provincial authorities, although Germany said one German had also been killed and four injured. Injuries were reported among Belgians, Czechs and Slovaks.
Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz called off a trip to Stockholm tomorrow. The president cancelled a visit to Prague. Mr Kaczynski ordered a period of national mourning until Wednesday.
Pope Benedict and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso expressed condolences.
The show, one of Europe's largest, drew people from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Ukraine, the event's website said.
The fire brigade and police said the weight of snow on the roof caused the collapse, but the building's manager told Polish television the snow had been cleared regularly. PAP reported that prosecutors had launched an investigation to determine the cause.
Like many of its neighbours Poland is shivering through its coldest winter in decades, with temperatures as low as minus 30C. The cold has killed nearly 200 people in Poland, disrupting transport and gas supplies. Earlier this month, 15 people were killed at an ice rink in Germany when a roof collapsed under the weight of snow.