Third body found after deadly building collapse in eastern Germany

Rescue workers recovered a third body from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in the eastern German city of Görlitz on Thursday, ending the search for missing people, police said.

The body is believed to be that of a missing 48-year-old man, a police spokesman said. The man was said to have Bulgarian and German nationality. 

On Wednesday, emergency services recovered the body of a missing 25-year-old Romanian tourist. A few hours later, they also found a deceased 26-year-old woman. The body was reportedly recovered from the front section of the collapsed building. 

"The emergency medic could only confirm the deaths of the two women," said police spokesman Stefan Heiduck. The bodies are being taken to the forensic medicine department for further examination. Results are not expected until the coming days.

Emergency crews had searched intensively for the three missing people using sniffer dogs as well as heavy machinery including excavators, cranes and wheel loaders. Rescue workers also dug through the rubble with shovels and their bare hands.

Cause of building collapse remains unclear

The multi-storey building in the city of Görlitz, near the Polish border in the eastern state of Saxony, collapsed on Monday evening for reasons that remain unclear.

The building contained rental apartments and holiday accommodations, according to police. Initially, five people were reported missing after the collapse, but two holiday guests were later confirmed to have still been travelling to the site at the time of the incident.

The cause of the collapse has not yet been established, although Görlitz Mayor Octavian Ursu said it appeared to have been caused by a gas explosion.

Police said a gas leak was discovered a few hours after the collapse, complicating rescue efforts amid fears that gas was still escaping from the rubble. Gas pipelines around the disaster site were fully emptied, reducing the risk of further explosions and making the rescue operation safer, a police spokeswoman said.

Görlitz is Germany's easternmost city. It is situated in the Saxon region of Upper Lusatia, directly on the Neisse River, and has a population of 57,000. Since 1998, Görlitz has formed a cross-border European city together with its Polish neighbour to the east, Zgorzelec.