German ice rink rescuers recover 14th body

Rescue workers at a collapsed German ice rink pulled the bodies of three more victims from the wreckage today, bringing the confirmed…

Rescue workers at a collapsed German ice rink pulled the bodies of three more victims from the wreckage today, bringing the confirmed death toll to 14.

Rescue workers seek people under the collapsed roof of the skating rink in Bad Reichenhall in Southern Germany, yesterday
Rescue workers seek people under the collapsed roof of the skating rink in Bad Reichenhall in Southern Germany, yesterday

A police spokesman said the 14th victim was a girl aged between 12 and 16. The identities of the two others recovered today have yet to be confirmed.

A woman is still missing and thought to be trapped inside the structure, which collapsed on Monday afternoon amid heavy snowfall. Officials held out little hope that she would be found alive.

With snow and the weight of the wreckage hampering rescuers working with cranes and sniffer dogs, efforts to clear the rubble and recover the last of the missing have been repeatedly interrupted while officials check the site's safety.

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Of the 14 bodies recovered so far, most were children or teenagers on school holidays. All came from the area around Bad Reichenhall, a Bavarian town close to the Austrian border.

The roof of the ice rink collapsed at around 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Monday while around 50 people, many of them children, were in the arena.

Masses of heavy snow had built up on the roof of the structure and prosecutors are looking at whether to file criminal charges in connection with the case.