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Work starts to tear down buildings at Cologne collapse site
Mar 5, 2009, 13:14 GMT
Cologne, Germany - Workers began Thursday to tear down damaged buildings surrounding the collapsed City of Cologne Archives, a priceless treasure-house of German history, still hoping to recover two missing people feared dead.
'The start of the search for the two missing person will take another 24 hours,' Frank Strobbe, the head of the recovery operation, said. 'We are still working under mortal danger here,' he said, adding that the safety of the workers had top priority.
The archives building's collapse on Tuesday appeared linked to tunneling work for a new underground train line.
A pothole opened, undermining the building which was crammed with Europe's medieval heritage and the manuscripts of great authors and musicians.
No bodies have been found. All the archive staff and users ran to safety within three minutes Tuesday after the walls began to groan and buckle. Three buildings then tipped into the pothole, which has been filled with 1,700 cubic metres of concrete overnight to stabilize the site.
Rescue workers said the chance of finding the two missing men alive were 'almost zero.'
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