Misfortune on the Moselle – pain and joy – survivors of the hotel collapse in Kröv – Panorama

Kröv (dpa/lrs) – For Edi Hoefnagel-Visser it is a more difficult course. A good five months after the hotel break-in in Kröv, she returns for the first time to the place where she was trapped for hours under collapsed rubble with her two-year-old son and her husband.

She doubted for a long time whether she should go to Kröv, whether it wasn’t too early, she told the German Press Agency. And when she arrived it was difficult. Tears also flowed. “For me it’s not that easy mentally.”

Met rescuer for the first time

But when they met and hugged all the people and their rescuer Christoph Reuter from the Trier fire department at the former hotel, it was a great moment. “He’s such a teddy bear,” Hoefnagel-Visser said of him.

23-year-old Edi Hoefnagel-Visser and her little son were buried for hours. (Photo: Harald Tittel/dpa)

Her son carries her in her arms, her husband Mark still uses crutches. He was trapped in the collapse and seriously injured, while the mother and child were uninjured.

Two people died in the accident

The family of three is one of the seven survivors of the accident that shook small Kröv on the Moselle on August 6, 2024. Late in the evening, an entire floor of the hotel collapsed. Two people died: a 64-year-old woman and the 59-year-old hotel operator.

An entire floor collapsed in the accident. (archive image) (Photo: Harald Tittel/dpa)

The reason for the meeting is the community’s New Year’s reception, to which all those affected and rescue workers have been invited. “It was important to us as a local community to have closure and to thank the rescue workers once again,” said local mayor Desire Beth (CDU). But it is also clear that there is still no closure for those affected.

Processing is just beginning

Before the trip to Kröv, Hoefnagel-Visser said on her Instagram account that she had only recently begun to process what had happened. “The hectic pace hasn’t given me space for it yet,” wrote the woman, who is seven months pregnant.

Her husband is already further along with the processing. “Mentally and emotionally he is doing very well.” However, it will probably take another two years for him to fully recover from the nerve damage.

Edi Hoefnagel-Visser and Mark Visser are grateful to their rescuers. (Photo: Harald Tittel/dpa)

“I’m doing well now.” “I’m slowly recovering,” he said in Kröv. At first he couldn’t walk at all. He is grateful for all the people who worked for hours to save those buried. He cried loudly when he met his rescuer, his mother said.

The Dutch family lives in the strongly Christian community of Urk (province of Flevoland). They were on holiday on the Moselle at the time.

Contact with other affected people

The victims come together again in Kröv. Erika Sorm from Rheinau in Baden-Württemberg is also enthusiastic. She had been lying next to Hoefnagel-Visser and her son under a slanted door in a cavity. Both women prayed a lot, they say. Sorm and her dog Queeni were also uninjured. In Kröv, the Dutch woman and Sorm fell into each other’s arms.

Victims and rescue workers also meet at the New Year’s reception in the town of 2,300 residents. There are many conversations. “You’re just grateful that you got out of there,” Sorm said. She’s fine, and so is the dog.

The 72-year-old had already been to Kröv last October to “thank the helpers for my second life”. They also fell on their rescuer’s neck.

Thanks to rescue workers

Around 250 emergency services took part in the 24-hour rescue operation. The Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Alexander Schweitzer (SPD), thanked all those who helped: “Through their bravery and commitment, they are a shining example for all of us,” he said in Kröv. Thanks to the effort, seven of the nine people buried could have been saved.

Schweitzer awarded the Golden Fire Department Medal of Honor as a cross for services of extraordinary importance to the fire service Rhineland-Palatinate to the fire and disaster control inspector (BKI) of the Bernkastel-Wittlich district, Jörg Teusch.

“It’s crazy how you managed to survive that.”

The cause of the collapse is still unclear. Investigations are ongoing and an expert report should provide clarity.

Hoefnagel-Visser said it was only after the accident that she realized from the pictures how lucky she had been. “Crazy to see how you could survive that.”