Rescue Operation
Rescue support was sent from the surrounding area, including Katowice, as well as from the neighbouring province of Lesser Poland. Since parts of the collapsed structure were supported only by heaps of snow, the rescue teams could not heat the pockets beneath the collapsed roof with hot air, fearing that the roof might collapse even further.
The search and rescue action was terminated on the afternoon of Sunday 29 January 2006 as, according to Janusz Skulich, commander of the Silesian Fire Fighters, the probability of rescuing any more survivors from beneath the collapsed roof was by then close to zero. Heavy equipment is reported to have started clearing the area of the remaining rubble. The rescue action was carried out by 103 firefighter teams (more than 1000 fire fighters altogether), EMS units as well as 230 policemen with dogs, military police units from Kraków and Gliwice, the GOPR mountain rescue team of Szczyrk and specialists from the mine rescue team of Bytom. Survivors were taken to nearby hospitals in Chorzów and Katowice, and to other towns of the region, including Siemianowice Śląskie, Bytom, Sosnowiec, Ruda Śląska, Dąbrowa Górnicza and Piekary Śląskie. Andrzej Skrzyś, vice-president of Polish Society of Carrier-Pigeons said that already on Saturday the rescue services brought over 1,000 pigeons to the office of the society that are being fed and watered by pigeon-fanciers from Chorzów until the arrival of their owners. On 30 January 2006 there were 67 confirmed deaths and about 30 missing people. Later that day the number of victims was revised down to 62 confirmed deaths . On 31 January three more bodies were found in the ruins of MTK, raising the death toll to 65. Next day, officials stated that due to irregularities by funeral houses and dissection rooms, the wrong number of victims had been reported, and on 1 February there were 63 confirmed deaths. On 11 and 14 February the bodies of 64th and 65th victims of roof collapse were found.
In the morning of 19 February workers got to the last area of the hall that was still covered by fragments of the hall’s collapsed roof. They found no more victims but found two pigeons that were still alive after spending 22 days trapped under the rubble.
Read more about this topic: Katowice Trade Hall Roof Collapse
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