German skating rink collapses, at least 11 dead

BAD REICHENHALL, Germany, Tuesday (Reuters) At least 11 people were killed and more were feared dead when the roof of a skating rink in Germany collapsed in heavy snow, police and officials said on Tuesday.

Schools in the region were on holiday and many children and their parents were inside the building in the Bavarian town of Bad Reichenhall when it collapsed on Monday.

"Five bodies have been recovered. Another person was rescued but subsequently died in hospital. Five more bodies have been seen but not yet recovered," a police spokesman in the nearby town of Traunstein said.

Rescuers with sniffer dogs and heavy cranes worked in bitter cold through the night to clear heavy snow and debris but there was no sign of life coming from under the piles of rubble.

"It's unfortunately deathly quiet in the hall," police spokesman Fritz Braun said. A local government spokesman in Berchtesgaden region near the Austrian border said rescuers could see several bodies but he declined to give a number. He said that in addition to the six dead whose bodies had been secured, 16 other people were missing.

In one hopeful sign for rescuers, a girl was rescued some six hours after the roof collapsed at around 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Monday afternoon. Officials said around 50 people were thought to have been in the sports complex when the roof collapsed.