The &to=http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/384/16572_chusovoi.html' target=_blank>roof of a trade hall in the southern Polish city of Katowice collapsed Saturday with up to 500 people inside, injuring at least 40 people, police said.
The injured were mostly in critical and serious condition, said Bozena Ferdyn, spokesman for Katowice hospitals.
Television footage showed the twisted wreckage of the collapsed metal roof and the streets lined with rescue vehicles.
TVN24 images showed firefighters pulling people from the wreckage. The firefighters also used jacks to stabilize some of the building's beams as they attempted to get to those trapped.
The weight of snow likely caused the roof to cave in at about 5:30 p.m. (1630 GMT), &to=http://english.pravda.ru/region/2001/09/08/14586.html' target=_blank>Katowice police spokesman Janusz Jonczyk said.
"Hospitals are making preparations to take in more of the injured," Jonczyk said. He did not immediately know if anyone had been killed.
Jonczyk said that intensive rescue efforts were under way.
"There could be even up to 500 people inside," Jonczyk said in a telephone interview.
The hall in the Bytkow district of the city had been hosting a carrier pigeon exhibition, Jonczyk said.
Janina Waluga, spokeswoman for the hospital in nearby Sieminowice, said among the 11 victims being treated in her facility were two Germans and two from the Czech Republic, reports AP.
O.Ch.
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