Fifteen people, including 12 children, were killed after the roof of an ice skating rink in Germany collapsed due to heavy snowfall.

The roof crashed onto the ice rink in the Bavarian Alps town of Bad Reichenhall on 2 January at 4pm local time, just as the rink was closing. Around 50 people were inside, including many children.

So far, 18 people have been reported injured by the roof collapse, three of them seriously, while 16 people escaped unhurt.

According to local reports, the 30-year-old building – which measured 60m x 30m (200ft x 100ft) with large glass windows – was cleared only seconds before the roof caved in because loud creaking had been heard.

There had also reportedly been warnings of problems with the roof earlier in the day and training for school groups had been cancelled, although the rink had remained open for public use.

More than 500 rescuers, comprising firefighters, police and soldiers, were forced to temporarily abandon work yesterday afternoon due to fears of further collapses.

Rescuers are continuing to search the wreckage in what police have described as “a race against time” due to fears that any survivors still trapped will suffer from hypothermia due to being pressed against the surface of the ice in the freezing weather.

In a separate disaster to hit the area on the same day, 10 walkers in nearby Unterjettenberg were caught on the Schrecksattel mountain in Bavaria and engulfed by an avalanche earlier in the afternoon. As of last night, seven members of the group had managed to dig themselves out, one body was found by rescuers but two people remained unaccounted for.