The historic city archive of Cologne collapsed today.

Six out of nine missing persons have been found, firefighters and police are still searching for the missing three that are believed to be buried under the debris.

As German media WDR and RTL as well as CNN reported, the building that houses 1000-years-old documents broke apart like a house of cards earlier this afternoon. Eye witnesses speak of loud and weird noises prior to the collapse and all employees managed to escape in time. However, the building caused the adjacent blocks of flats to collapse as well, and it is believed that the missing persons are tenants.

It is speculated that the construction of a subway track underneath Severinstraße (where the City Archive stood) is responsible for the collapse, but city planning officers are denying any knowledge of on-going construction work near the site.

Watch the videos here if you can speak German!