Three people missing after two homes plunge over cliff into old mineshaft during a landslide in Nachterstedt, Germany
The remaining half of a house after land near a disused coal mine opened up and swallowed a 350ft stretch of lakeside coast
Three people missing after two homes plunge over cliff during landslide
18th July 2009
Three people are missing after a lakeside cliff collapsed, sending two houses plummeting into the depths of a disused mineshaft.
The incident, which happened in the German town of Nachterstedt early this morning, saw a 350-metre stretch of shoreline collapse. One home was completely destroyed, and another split in half in the catastrophe.
Around seven other homes, now just a few feet from the drop, had a narrow escape.
The residential house in Nachterstedt, Germany was destroyed, when the 350-metre stretch of shoreline gave way. Three people are missing
The town, around 170km south of Berlin, is next to an old open-cast coal mine converted to a lake.
The missing people included a man and a couple, all believed to be aged in their 50s.
Crash: Three people, all in their 50s, are missing following the landslide
Wreckage: Remains of the houses sit at the bottom of the quarry
There had been heavy rain in the area, but experts say the mining activity had probably made the land unstable.
The stretch of land which collapsed into the lake is believed to be 350m long and 120m wide.
The collapse happened next to an old open-cast coal mine converted to a lake
The scale of the collapse, which also swallowed a road, can be seen from the air
Article: HERE
This is very tragic and sad. I wonder if these people had ever been told of the risk they were in? I feel awful for them. Houses can be replaced. Humans are precious and priceless, they cannot.
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I agree; this is a horrible tragedy. There are many other homes that are built near or on abandoned mineshafts, and I truly hope the people who live in the homes are aware of the risk -- but I doubt many of them even know there is a mineshaft there. They are well hidden now.
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