Polish roof collapse kills 66

An injured woman leaves the exhibition hall in Chorzow after the roof collapses. Picture / Reuters

CHORZOW, Poland - A total of 66 people were killed when the snow-laden roof of an exhibition centre collapsed in Poland's worst disaster in almost two decades.

After a night in which temperatures reached minus 15C, rescue workers began winding down their search for survivors among the rubble.

Dozens of distraught relatives and survivors gathered near the site to await news of their friends and loved ones who had been attending an event for international pigeon enthusiasts in the southern city of Chorzow when the metal roof of the modern building, the size of a soccer field, collapsed on Saturday.

About 150 people were injured.

Nearly 1,000 police, firefighters, soldiers and workers from local mines worked through the night, deploying cutting equipment and thermal imaging gear to search for survivors.

President Lech Kaczynski said the death toll, which included two children and two foreigners, was unlikely to rise.

Officials had earlier feared dozens more were trapped, but the regional fire brigade chief said the chances of finding any more people in the wreckage, dead or alive, were close to nil.

Health Minister Zbigniew Religa said that among the hospitalised victims, no one's life was in danger.

Authorities said 14 foreigners were hospitalised in Poland's worst building collapse and its worst disaster of any kind since a Polish airlines jet crashed in 1987 near Warsaw, killing 183.

Survivors said the toll could have been even worse.

"Between 11am and 1pm on Saturday there were 7,000 to 8,000 people at the show," Andrzej Skrzys, one of the event's organisers told Reuters.

News agency PAP quoted Slovak pigeon breeder Daniel Dudzik as saying his group of almost 100 Slovak breeders left early.

"After lunch we decided not to go back to the hall, we decided to go back home. We left at 3.15pm, and two hours later the roof collapsed," he said.

Two foreigners, a Czech and Belgian, were confirmed among the dead by provincial authorities, although Germany said one German had also been killed and four injured. Injuries were reported among Belgians, Czechs and Slovaks.

Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz called off a trip to Stockholm on Monday. The president cancelled a visit to Prague.

National mourning

Kaczynski ordered a period of national mourning until Wednesday. Pope Benedict and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso expressed condolences.

Marcinkiewicz said he believed the tragedy would lead to a cease-fire in political battles, as the country teeters on the brink of early elections after a crisis in parliament.

"I can't imagine that we would talk about politics at a time like this," Marcinkiewicz told Reuters.

As hearses drove up to the cordoned-off site to pick up the bodies, rescuers brought out cages of pigeons from the rubble. Other pigeons were flying aimlessly around the wreckage.

Jozef Watroba, who owns a pigeon supply shop, said he had been at the site since morning awaiting news of relatives.

"I was (at the show) with my daughter and sons-in-law -- I managed to get out, and the rescuers pulled my daughter out. She's fine, she's at home, but I still don't know what happened to my sons-in-law," Watroba said. "I'm waiting for any kind of word," he added, breaking down in tears.

The show, one of Europe's largest, drew people from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Ukraine, the event's website said.

The fire brigade and police said the weight of snow on the roof caused the collapse, but the building's manager told Polish television the snow had been cleared regularly.

PAP reported that prosecutors had launched an investigation to determine the cause.

Like many of its neighbours Poland is shivering through its coldest winter in decades, with temperatures as low as minus 30C. The cold has killed nearly 200 people in Poland, disrupting transport and gas supplies.

Earlier this month, 15 people were killed at an ice rink in Germany when a roof collapsed under the weight of snow.

- REUTERS