Two die after boulder crushes house in Germany

A boulder the size of a small house killed a father and daughter after it broke away from a hillside in Germany and hit a family home.

Two people died and two more were seriously injured after the rockfall in the Bavarian town of Stein an der Traun.



The dead were a 45-year-old father and his 18-year-old daughter. His wife, 40, and 16-year-old son survived the impact with severe injuries but are out of danger, according to local police.

The huge chunk of rock broke away from a 50ft cliff that overlooked the house at 7.40pm on Monday. Neighbours said they thought there had been a "terrible explosion" and rushed from their homes to see the family house obliterated with dust and smoke rising from the ruins.



Over 220 firemen and rescue personnel descended on the scene with sniffer dogs. It took until the early hours of Tuesday morning working in temperatures of minus 10 degrees C to pull the survivors to safety.

"We made contact with them early on and kept talking with them through the night as we pulled away at the debris," said a Red Cross official. All were sitting in the lounge watching TV when disaster struck, said police.

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