Around 700 rescue workers have been combing the wreckage of a Bavarian ice rink after the roof collapsed. At least 11 people, including a child, are known to have died in the tragedy.Dozens more are missing or injured. A sudden and heavy snowstorm led to the collapse of the roof. Hundreds were inside the building at Bad Reichenhall near the Austrian border.

Firefighters have used heavy lifting equipment to prop up the roof. “My employees measured the weight of the snow like every year and it was below the limit,” said the town’s Mayor, Wolfgang Heitmeyer. His comments follow speculation about the cause of the collapse. Speaking to German television, the chairman of the town’s ice hockey team said he was told earlier in the afternoon that training would have to be cancelled.But the authorities say it was to clear the snow away, and not because of safety fears.

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