Katowice Trade Hall Roof Collapse

Rescue teams searched in bitter cold Sunday for victims buried when the roof of an exhibition hall in the southern Polish town of Katowice collapsed during an international gathering of pigeon enthusiasts, killing at least 65 people and injuring 160.

The death toll continued to rise steadily through Sunday as emergency crews battling extreme cold used floodlights and hand tools to dig through the snow and debris of the building. The modern exhibition hall, which caved in apparently under the weight of snow around 5:30 pm (1630 GMT) Saturday afternoon, is roughly the size of a soccer field and was thought to have held at least 700 people

A spokesman for the provincial governor confirmed that so far 65 people had died and fire brigade officials were saying several dozen could still be under the rubble. Dog rescue teams have begun combing the site for survivors.

"We haven't managed to find anyone alive yet," Lukasz Kusion, a dog rescue team member told TVN24 television. "With every minute, chances are getting slimmer because of low temperatures," he told the Polish broadcaster.

Emergency workers shifted their efforts from rescue to recovery Sunday at the site of an exhibition center that's roof collapsed over the weekend in southern Poland, killing 66 people, after officials determined it unlikely that anyone else would be found alive.

Rescuers worked through the night in sub-zero temperatures after the roof caved in during a national racing-pigeon exposition Saturday evening, but most of the survivors were pulled out in the first few hours, officials said.

Krzysztof Mejer, a spokesman for the Silesian regional government, said Sunday night it was unlikely that anyone else would be found alive in the rubble of the International Exhibition Hall, on the border of the city of Katowice and the suburb of Chorzow.

Hopes of finding any more survivors are fading after a building collapsed in southern Poland, killing at least 65 people, rescuers said.

Some 500 people were in the trade hall in Katowice for a pigeon exhibition when the roof caved in - possibly under the weight of snow - on Saturday.

Among the dead and some 140 injured were Poles, Belgians and Germans.

President Lech Kaczynski has announced a day of mourning for what he called a "catastrophe" unprecedented in Poland.