Overview
- A multi-storey Gründerzeithaus on James-von-Moltke-Straße collapsed on Monday evening, flattening large parts of the building that housed rental and holiday apartments.
- Firefighters, police and the Technisches Hilfswerk have worked in continuous shifts using cranes, excavators, hand clearing, probes and cameras to search the rubble under a 24–72 hour survival window.
- Rescuers recovered the body of a 25-year-old Romanian tourist from the debris and confirmed the death, while two people—a 26-year-old Romanian woman and a 48-year-old man with Bulgarian and German citizenship—remain missing and are still being sought.
- Authorities found and vented a gas leak at the site and say the collapse looks like a gas explosion, but residual pockets of gas have forced intermittent work stoppages and the Kriminalpolizei has opened a formal investigation.
- The building belonged to the municipal housing company KommWohnen, local residents were evacuated and relatives are receiving pastoral care, and investigators' findings could prompt safety and liability reviews for gas supply and older housing stock.