Dutch stadium roof collapses
One dead and dozen others injured after part of the roof collapses at FC Twente stadium in Enschede.
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| The roof of the stadium of FC Twente collapsed after a crane crashed into the structure [EPA/Wesley] |
One man was killed and 13 others were injured after part of a Dutch stadium’s roof collapsed during building work on Thursday, Dutch public television reported.
The men, all construction workers, were labouring on the structure in the eastern Dutch town of Enschede, when a crane drove into the structure, NOS reported.
The 24,000 seater De Grolsch Veste, home to the FC Twente football club, was built in 1997.
“I can confirm that around noon there was a collapse at the FC Twente stadium. Part of the roof collapsed,” Jan Lamberts, a police spokesman told AFP.
An Enschede municipal spokeswoman declined to give further details, but said they would hold a press conference in Enschede later in the day.
Television pictures showed the part of the roof having collapsed on to an embankment on one of the goal-ends of the stadium, trapping people underneath.
Three people were treated at the scene, said Peter den Oudsten, mayor of the Dutch town of Enschede where the stadium is located.
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He said sniffer dogs and cameras were being used to check if anybody else was still trapped under the tangle of girders and red roof panels _ the color of FC Twente’s shirts _ behind the goal at the southern end of the GrolschVeste stadium.
Paramedics could be seen removing the injured from the scene.
Rescue workers on the scene were freeing those trapped underneath the rubble, Dutch news agency ANP reported, and a helicopter flew to the scene to treat the injured.
A hospital spokesperson confirmed that there were casualties in comments to ANP, but could not say how many.
Witnesses told how they saw construction workers running away from the work site as it started to collapse around noon, ANP reported.
“It collapsed with a huge noise like a house of cards,” a witness, who saw the incident from an office next to the stadium, told the agency.
“I heard a huge bang and there was big noise,” another witness told local television. FC Twente plays in the Dutch first division.