Roof of 30,000 m2 building collapses under snow on Tilburg industrial estate
The roof of a business on an industrial estate in Tilburg collapsed on Thursday evening, likely due to the snow piled on top of it. On Wednesday, approximately 1,000 square meters of the roof had already collapsed, causing one of the walls to crack. By Thursday evening, the rest of the roof of the 30,000 square-meter building came down, Omroep Brabant reported.
The involved business is on Gesworenhoekseweg in the Vossenberg industrial estate. After consultation with the local security region, Veiligheidsregio Midden- en West-Brabant, the municipality of Tilburg decided not to dispatch emergency services to the business.
“Because there was already a risk [on Wednesday] that the roof could collapse, we took measures then. The gas and electricity had already been turned off, and the building had been evacuated,” a municipal spokesperson told the broadcaster. The building was empty when the roof collapsed. The owner has been informed and will discuss the next steps with their insurance company, the spokesperson said.
According to the broadcaster, the first signs of trouble at the business were around 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Employees heard a sudden gust of wind through the building. They went to check and saw that the walls were warping.
The fire department investigated and found that a crossbeam had broken inside, likely due to the snow on the roof. This caused the roof to partially collapse, creating a large crack in one of the walls. The entire building was unstable.
Earlier this week, the roof of a sports hall in Utrecht also collapsed. There, too, the around 20 centimeters of snow that fell in the area was likely to blame. IKEA also closed several stores this week due to the snow piling up on its buildings’ flat roofs.
