Three missing after building collapse in Görlitz, Germany

Three people remained missing in the eastern German city of Görlitz on Tuesday after a residential building collapsed on Monday evening.

The precise cause of the collapse of the 19th-century house in the city center is still unclear, although local police suspect a gas explosion.

Emergency services are therefore proceeding cautiously with the help of gas readers, and also to prevent further collapses of rubble.

Initially, five people were listed as missing — but two were holidaymakers who had not yet arrived in Görlitz, and appeared shortly after midnight.

"They're fine, they weren't in the building at the time of the collapse," said police spokeswoman Anja Leuschner, explaining that the building housed rented accommodation and holiday homes. "They were lucky that they weren't there."

Görlitz, located in the eastern state of Saxony, is Germany's most easterly city, and lies directly on the border with Poland.

Guten Morgen! Welcome to DW's coverage of what Germany is talking about on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.

Emergency services are still searching for three missing people after a house collapsed in the center of Germany's most easterly city, Görlitz, on Monday evening. Local police suspect a gas explosion.

Meanwhile, a new study suggests that almost one in five German petrol stations have breached new rules limiting the amount of times they can increase fuel prices.

Later on Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will welcome Swiss President Guy Parmelin to Berlin, and we're also expecting the results of an inquiry into the car attack at Magdeburg Christmas Market in December 2024.