Katowice, Poland – The snow-covered roof of a convention hall in southern Poland collapsed Saturday with as many as 500 people inside for a racing pigeon exhibition, killing at least 60 people and injuring at least 141, a rescue official said Sunday.
“Unfortunately we have more tragic information: 60 people have died,” Andrzej Fiema, an official at the crisis management center organizing the rescue effort in the city of Katowice, said on TVN24 television.
“I heard a snap like breaking matches as the roof fell on everybody. Then I heard an unbelievable scream, and then I tried to escape like everybody else,” one woman told Polish television from her hospital bed.
Rescue crews worked frantically through the night in subfreezing temperatures after hundreds of firefighters rushed to the scene, along with search-and-rescue teams with sniffer dogs, local miner rescue teams and passers-by, including one man who ran home to get his Labrador retriever.
“My dog found two unconscious people,” said Zbigniew Chmurzynski, who was on his way back from the movies with his wife when they came upon the collapse. “I just hope they’ll survive.”
Fire chief Kazimierz Krzowski said early this morning that rescue efforts “in a way have come to an end, and we are bringing out corpses.” He spoke after no survivors had been found for more than six hours.
Krzowski said search teams had found 13 places where bodies were believed buried and vowed to “work till the end” to recover them.
Rescue crews dug into the wreckage with saws and other equipment, using flashlights and floodlights. Firefighters also used jacks to stabilize some of the building’s beams.
Witnesses said people trapped beneath the wreckage had called family or emergency services on their cellphones for help.
“People were hitting the panes with chairs, but the windows were unbreakable,” said Franciszek Kowal, who jumped about 15 feet to safety after fleeing to an outside terrace.
