Poland marks two decades since its deadliest building collapse during a pigeon fair

Twenty years ago, the roof of a trade fair hall in southern Poland collapsed during a pigeon exhibition, killing 65 people and injuring more than 140 in the country’s deadliest building disaster.

Twenty years ago, the roof of the largest pavilion at the Katowice International Fair in southern Poland collapsed during a national pigeon exhibition, killing 65 people and injuring more than 140 others in the country’s deadliest structural disaster.

Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel

The disaster occurred at the largest pavilion of the International Katowice Trade Fair on January 28, 2006.

A thick layer of snow and ice on the roof contributed to the collapse around 5:15 p.m., as visitors attended trade events and a nationwide pigeon exhibition.

Many escaped unharmed, but the scale of the tragedy required an enormous rescue effort.

Over 1,300 firefighters, miners, medics, police officers, soldiers and mountain rescuers worked through the night, with survivors taken to hospitals across the region.

Rescue operations continued for days, including searches with trained dogs, ultimately confirming 65 dead, including nine foreign nationals.

Investigations later revealed structural and design flaws, as well as lapses in building oversight.

Rescue operations in January 2006. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel

The legal proceedings, spanning over a decade, resulted in multiple convictions, including a nine-year prison sentence for the building’s designer.

Families of the victims and the injured were subsequently awarded compensation by the state, with Poland at the time governed by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party.

At the site of the former hall in Katowice, now marked by a memorial to the victims, flowers were laid on Wednesday to honour the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. Photo: PAP/Kasia Zaremba

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Source: PAP