BAD REICHENHALL, Germany (Reuters):
ALL BUT three of the 15 people killed when the roof of an ice rink in southern Germany collapsed were children aged between nine and 16, police said yesterday.
Forensic experts from the nearby Austrian city of Salzburg who examined the corpses said all the victims were killed instantly by falling debris and none would have been saved if rescue workers had reached them faster.
"All 15 were dead immediately," Edith Tutsch-Bauer, head of forensic medicine in Salzburg, told Reuters. "They were all struck dead by the falling wreckage."
Emergency services recovered a 15th body on Thursday, identified by chief fire officer Rudi Zeif as that of a 40-year-old woman believed to be the last victim.
Two other women were also killed when the roof of the 34-year-old ice rink collapsed on Monday amid heavy snow.
