A collapsing, huge pile of wood for an Easter fire killed a 31-year-old in northern Hesse.

Seven other men were injured in the accident on Holy Saturday in Diemelsee-Wirmighausen, six of them seriously, the police said on Sunday afternoon.

The already stacked, up to 20 meter high wooden structure made of trunks collapsed, several people fell under it.

The 31-year-old died at the scene of the accident despite resuscitation measures.

Some of the other men, aged between 15 and 27, should have been admitted to nearby hospitals.

The police said there was no danger to life.

The scene of the accident was cordoned off.

The criminal police began investigating the cause on Saturday evening, but they could not be clarified on Sunday either.

A police statement speaks of a tragic accident.

It reportedly happened around 5:30 p.m.

According to the findings, the rural youth from Wirmighausen had built the wooden structure with 30 to 40 helpers, the work was almost finished.

“The type of construction that had been tried and tested for years suddenly collapsed for reasons that are not yet known.

Most of the injured and also the killed person stayed inside or in the entrance area of ​​the wooden structure when the collapse occurred," the police said.

The shocked helpers from rural youth and the fire brigade immediately began to pull the wooden construction apart and then carefully worked their way forward with chainsaws.

The injured could have been rescued from cavities under the trunks, for the 31-year-old any help came too late.

On Sunday morning, the criminal police secured evidence and also documented the closed-off accident site with a drone.

The officials interviewed witnesses and viewed images and video material, the police said.

Relatives and witnesses would be looked after intensively, including by the police, the emergency pastors and the crisis intervention team of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district.

The Wirmighausen district has around 370 inhabitants.

Easter bonfires are a centuries-old custom.

The fires are also said to symbolize the end of winter.

Because of the corona pandemic, the custom and the associated get-togethers had been canceled in many places in recent years, so that the Easter bonfires this year were awaited with particular joy.

In Wirmighausen, the fire was planned for Sunday.