Overview

• At around 6:30 AM on August 3, the chimney head of a three-storey corner house on Kurt-Schumacher-Straße in Witten collapsed onto the street.
• Falling debris scattered roof tiles, crushed a parked car, and miraculously caused no injuries.
• Firefighters deployed drones to map damage from above and coordinated scene security with police, Stadtwerke, THW, and the building authority.
• A THW structural engineer declared three apartments uninhabitable, prompting the evacuation of 13 residents as a precaution.
• Emergency services have cordoned off the building and launched an investigation to determine the cause of the structural failure.