The snow-laden roof of an exhibition hall with hundreds of people inside collapsed in the southern Polish city of Chorzow today, police said. Those in the hall were attending a pigeon show.
There was no immediate information about the scale of casualties, but PAPnews agency said 500-1,000 people might have been in the hall and at least 50 people had been injured.
"The roof of the exhibition centre in Chorzow collapsed under the weight of snow and several hundred people are believed to be inside," police spokesman Piotr Bieniak told Reutersby telephone.
Pictures from Polish television showed emergency workers shouting to each other and attempting to clear debris in the semi-darkness.
Outside the building dozens of stunned people milled around at night beside ambulances, some helping the injured into emergency vehicles while others clutched bandaged or bleeding heads.
Earlier this month, 15 people died at an ice skating rink in the town of Bad Reichenhall in southern Germany when a 34-year-old roof collapsed under the weight of fallen snow. All but three of the dead were children.
Czech rescue officials said a woman was injured the same week when the roof of a supermarket collapsed under the weight of snow.
Poland is experiencing its coldest winter in several decades. A cold snap has knocked temperatures to as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) in parts of Europe.
The freeze has killed more than 100 people across the region, disrupted transport, highlighted gas supply problems and frozen parts of the Black Sea.