Two years after the hotel in Kröv collapsed, a man has been accused of negligent homicide resulting in the deaths of two people and negligent bodily injury affecting eight others.

The building on the Moselle river collapsed on 6 August 2024, after one floor caved in. A female guest and the hotel owner died as a result, while eight people, including a Dutch family on holiday with their 2-year-old, had to be dug out from beneath the rubble.

Update – Moselle town of Kröv

Two dead, remaining people saved after Germany hotel collapse

The co-owner of a structural engineering firm had been commissioned to assess cracking in the hotel building's gable wall. According to the public prosecutor's office, he failed to recognise the risk of collapse and did not take sufficient measures to prevent it.

The investigation against the man was based on a preliminary expert report commissioned by the authorities. It concluded that the collapse was caused by material failure in the overloaded structure of the older building. Two additional stories had been added to the hotel in the 1980s; the architect and structural engineer at the time reportedly failed to comply with several requirements set by the building permit authority.

The structure had held for decades, until load-bearing wooden components rotted and gave way. This led to increased stress within the walls, resulting in the visible cracks in the gable wall. The hotel operators subsequently commissioned the accused structural engineer to inspect the cracks.

Construction work initiated by the engineer during his assessment reportedly rendered the building so unstable that it ultimately collapsed. According to the expert report, the collapse could have been prevented had appropriate structural measures been taken. According to the public prosecutor's office, the accused denies having acted negligently. He maintains that he had informed his client that he typically worked on newly constructed buildings and that the collapse was unforeseeable to him.

The prosecution, however, takes the view that given his professional training, the man should have been able to recognise the risk of collapse. The architect responsible for the flawed vertical extension carried out in the 1980s is deceased; consequently, no investigation can be conducted against him.

The full press release can be found here.