Building crashed in Cologne

[Skyfaller]

Around 14:00 o'clock, I noticed that my desk was moving. I found it strange, because I couldn't think of a cause. The last time I noticed a similar thing was when a car had crashed into our building. This time, there was no crashing sound, if anything, there was a low rumble. A little later, sirens began and didn't stop, so I became curious. Where better to check what's going on in your neighbourhood than the internet ...

Turns out, a local archive less than 500m from my working place had crashed into a newly-built subway tunnel below that. Three persons are still missing. More than 200 policemen, firefighters and technical help personnel were on site. According to the news, cracks had been found a year ago, and in last week's inspection, the building has been rated as secure. Shortly before the building collapsed, a construction builder was said to warn people to leave the building. Just a week before, hundreds of people were watching the "Rosenmontagszug" (carnival) on the same site.

The archive contained a wealth of historical records, among them works of German writer Heinrich Böll and documents that date back to 961. A few years ago, a nearby church tower had leaned by about one meter to the side and had to be re-erected.

This article has photos.

[Col.Kell]

Occasionaly, I may do a similar job to what those guys were doing while i'm in CAP.





That's larger than anything I've ever seen or done. Hope nobody was hurt.

[npsbre]

Ouch, that's terrible. The blurb at the beginning of the article says, "Nach dem Einsturz des Kölner Stadtarchivs werden noch immer zwei Menschen vermisst - nach Angaben der Polizei haben Spürhunde in den Ruinen angeschlagen." Two people still missing? Hopefully they'll be found alive.

[Skyfaller]

Two people are missing for certain, but three more persons may have been in a car. In order to search for survivors, heavy gear is needed to remove large blocks of rubble, but the ground is unstable, so it has to be filled with concrete first. However, the concrete may cause further damage to the documents in the cellar of the archive. In the meantime, chances for survival are rated as bad, because it is unlikely that bubbles that could sustain life have formed. However, as they say, hope dies last.

Some sections in the cellar appear to remain intact and stable enough to clear. But as CNN puts it, documents that have survived two world wars may have been lost. Some people question whether building the subway should continue, although the tunnels are already complete. The way I see it, Cologne has too many cars already, so this subway is badly needed. The city mayor spoke of irresponsible behaviour, but some of these decisions can't have been made without him. It's his job to make informed decisions. A criminal investigation against unknown individuals has begun.

Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, with 996.690 inhabitants. It was awarded city status by the Romans in 50 AD.

[Col.Kell]

I can see about in the center of the picture, this giant hole with debris surrounding it. Is that where the subway tunnel is?
And is your work building in that picture somewhere?

[Skyfaller]

I can see about in the center of the picture, this giant hole with debris surrounding it. Is that where the subway tunnel is?

By now it seems pretty clear that a wall in the subway tunnel collapsed first, then soil filled the tunnel. When the building was no longer supported, it collapsed. And of course, this is not supposed to happen.

And is your work building in that picture somewhere?

No, it's a few hundred meters away, but still the ground shook slightly.