Roof collapse at the Katowice Fair
Coordinates: 50 ° 17 ′ 20.3 ″ N , 19 ° 0 ′ 13.3 ″ E The collapse of a roof at the Katowice Exhibition Center on January 28, 2006 was the worst of its kind in Poland to date. A total of 65 people were killed and 170 injured. Numerous fatalities were not killed directly by the collapse, but instead either froze to death or succumbed to their injuries because they could not be rescued from the rubble in time in icy temperatures.
procedure
The first part of the flat roof of the hall collapsed at 5:14 p.m. in the middle of the building. At the time of the accident about 700 people visited the exhibition pigeon fancier Gołąb 2006 (dt. Taube 2006 ), which annually attracts more than 12,000 visitors. There were also many foreigners among the exhibitors and visitors, including from Germany , Belgium , the Czech Republic and Ukraine .
Another part of the damaged building collapsed around 7:00 p.m. when rescue work was already underway. In addition, rescuing those buried was made difficult by the darkness. A total of 1,300 helpers as well as special forces with sonar devices and rescue dogs came to the scene of the accident from the cities in the vicinity, from the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and from abroad (e.g. Germany ) . Many of the people buried still had contact with the outside world via mobile phones . About 160 people were rescued from the rubble, but after 10:00 p.m. only the dead were recovered. The chances of survival after midnight were estimated to be low because of the cold, as temperatures dropped to −17 ° C at night.
144 people were admitted to 16 hospitals in the area, including 13 foreigners from Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Netherlands . Initially, survivors were only searched for with light equipment so as not to injure those trapped, with a total of 62 dead people rescued, including two children and five foreigners. This work was ended in the late afternoon of January 29th, as it could no longer be assumed that survivors would still be able to be rescued with persistent, double-digit minus temperatures and almost 24 hours after the accident. The fire brigade reported that there were no more victims in the hall ruins. The hall should be cleared with heavy equipment on the same day, but work was not started because the area was searched again for buried persons. Three more bodies were found on January 31. On February 3rd, the demolition of the exhibition hall began and another fatality was recovered. The number of deaths was given too high at 67 during the rescue work because the lists in the many hospitals contained errors in some cases.
According to the Federal Foreign Office , two Germans were killed and four German citizens were injured. The bodies of two Czechs, two Slovaks, a Belgian and a Dutchman were also recovered.
Reactions and investigations
Poland's Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz went to Chorzów on the evening of the disaster and took part in a service in the Cathedral of Christ the King in Katowice on Sunday, January 29th at 10:30 am . In view of the catastrophe, which is the worst of its kind in the history of Poland, President Lech Kaczyński , who later also arrived at the scene of the accident, ordered state mourning until February 1st . Andrzej Urbański, Minister of the Presidential Chancellery , and Minister of Health Zbigniew Religa also came to see the situation in the nearby hospitals.
According to the authorities, the cause of the collapse of the 100 × 150 m exhibition hall was said to have been heavy snow and ice on the roof of the building. In fact, an approximately 50 cm thick layer of icy snow covered the roof of the hall, which was only six years old. According to the operator, however, the snow was regularly cleared, which was ordered in Poland after several roof collapses due to snow loads, such as that of the Bad Reichenhall ice rink . However, it is also assumed that construction defects or lack of maintenance caused the collapse and that the snow was only one trigger of the disaster, especially since the architect of the exhibition hall, Jacek Jasiński, did not have a permit and therefore the design was signed by another architect . In fact, the public prosecutor's office found that the hall already had defects in 2002 and that the snow was only partially cleared, so that a weight of around 2,500 tons put a strain on the roof. The severe frost of the last few weeks and the penetration of moisture, but also possible damage to the mountains, could have impaired the stability of the steel frame construction. Survivors speak of serious security deficiencies and locked emergency exits, as only two emergency exits were open, which was later confirmed. Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz announced a change in regulations and stricter controls. A nationwide investigation of large halls with flat roofs is to be carried out.
On May 20, 2009 the trial of 11 people was opened in Katowice .
literature
- Antoni Biegus, Kazimierz Rykaluk: On the collapse of the exhibition hall in Katowice. In: Bauingenieur , ISSN 0005-6650 , 81st year 2006, issue 12, pp. 517-522.
Web links
- “Exhibition hall collapsed - dead and injured”, spiegel.de, January 28, 2006
- "Polish exhibition hall collapsed - two Germans among the dead in Katowice", faz.net, January 29, 2006