Ice Rink Roof Collapse in Germany

[rl3ao]

REICHENHALL, Germany - The roof of an ice rink collapsed Monday after a heavy snowfall in this town in the Bavarian Alps, killing three people, injuring more than 20, and leaving another 20 missing, police said. <br><br><br>Rescue workers swarmed the scene in the town of Bad Reichenhall after the collapse occurred about 4 p.m., and police using a dog searched for people in the wreckage. Doctors set up a makeshift infirmary at a building next door where injured people lay with intravenous hookups.<br><br>Police spokesman Fritz Braun said at least three people died, between 20 and 25 were injured, and 20 were still missing.<br><br>At least three children being carried by rescuers to a Red Cross medical tent were among the injured seen by an Associated Press photographer.<br><br>Braun told the AP from nearby Traunstein said firefighters were "trying to shore up the remains of the roof to get to the injured."<br><br>He said the heavy snow had hampered officials from reaching the scene.<br><br>An official with a local ice hockey club said he had been told by authorities half an hour before the accident that a regular practice session for youth players was canceled because there was a risk of the facility collapsing. However, "apparently the public skating was still continuing," Thomas Rumpeltes told The AP.<br><br>It was not immediately known if the weather contributed to the collapse of the rink, which was built in the 1970s. The town is in the southeastern corner of Germany, on the border with Austria and about six miles from the Austrian city of Salzburg.<br><br>Elsewhere in the region, three mountaineers were reported missing after they were buried by an avalanche Monday in the German Alps.<br><br>The three were part of a group of 10 people hit by the avalanche on the 6,500-foot Schrecksattel mountain in Bavaria, police said.<br><br>Seven had been able to struggle free. Mountain rescue teams were on their way to the scene, but heavy snowfall was preventing a helicopter from joining the search, police said.<br><br>Six people were reported killed by avalanches over the weekend in the French Alps. One of the victims was identified as Ajay Tambe, 42, of Cupertino, Calif. Two others were also foreigners, but their nationalities and names were not released.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060102/ap_ ... <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[FreeAGENT]

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[I35hockey]

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