Two dead after boulder crushes family home

The police said a 45-year-old father and his 18-year-old daughter were crushed when a rock the size of a house fell from a 15-metre hillside above at approximately 7:40 pm.

Early on Tuesday morning rescue workers were able to pull the man’s 40-year-old wife and 16-year-old son from the rubble of their home, which was completely destroyed. The two survivors were hospitalised.

When the rock fell the family was apparently in the same room together and completely surprised, police said.

Some 200 fire fighters, Red Cross workers, THW disaster relief workers and police were on hand. Shortly after their arrival, rescuers said they heard noises from inside the debris. Several hours later they made verbal contact with the mother and her son.

Two nearby homes were evacuated, but a geologist said overnight that there was no danger of further rock fall. According to police there had been no sign that the hillside was unstable.

“I have never seen anything like this,” Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said just after midnight, thanking the rescue workers for their efforts. “This is an extremely sad and terrible day.”