Offices raided in Cologne

This isn't surprising: earlier today, state prosecutors in Cologne raided the offices of the building and engineering firms that were building a new subway line adjacent to the Historical Archives of the City of Cologne, which collapsed on 3 March. The raids encompassed approximately 40 different offices, including that of the city's public transit organization, and the records and other evidence seized will be used to determine responsibility for the collapse.

The construction of the new subway line is widely believed to be the cause of the collapse, and officials in Cologne learned a few days ago that contractor logbooks documented the existence of persistent groundwater problems in the segment of the subway tunnel adjacent to the archives.