Building Collapses in Görlitz, Germany; Three People Missing A tourist quarter in the center of Görlitz turned into a disaster zone on Monday evening, when a multi‑story residential building suddenly collapsed, leaving three people missing and a neighborhood gripped by fear.

Monday evening: sudden collapse near the station

The multi‑story apartment building, containing both rental flats and holiday apartments, came down near the city’s railway station on Monday night. Early reports spoke of “TOTAL HORROR” as authorities warned that three people were still unaccounted for and feared trapped under the rubble. Police initially could not reach five people linked to the address, but two later surfaced unharmed after it emerged they had been traveling.

Overnight: rescue under a gas cloud

Through the night, more than 140 firefighters, police, mountain rescue teams and dog units combed the ruins “for possible victims buried under the rubble,” working under the constant threat of escaping gas. A “very dangerous” gas leak was detected beneath the debris and could not be sealed “for technical reasons,” forcing rescuers to proceed stone by stone while vibration and gas‑measurement devices monitored every move.

Emergency commander Sebastian Schram described a painstaking operation: “Every stone, every board must be lifted by hand to discover any cavities where gas could have accumulated. Emergency services are working on finding a solution to the gas leak problem.” Officials estimate a 72‑hour survival window and expect the mission to last at least through Tuesday, possibly longer.

Human cost and official line

Among the missing are two Romanian citizens, aged 25 and 26, and a 48‑year‑old man with Bulgarian and German citizenship who was in Görlitz on business. One man, fearing his wife and relative are under the rubble, told reporters he heard an explosion while shopping nearby and returned to find “only a huge pile of rubble where the building once stood.”

Authorities are investigating a possible gas explosion as the cause of the collapse, though they stress that “the exact cause is still being investigated” and “is not yet known.” The building’s owner, KommWohnen, is a subsidiary of the city of Görlitz—an uncomfortable detail for local officials now promising answers once the rescue phase ends.

Meanwhile, 54 residents from at least three neighboring houses remain evacuated; they will only be allowed back when the search for the missing ends and the gas risk is declared over.