BAD REICHENHALL, Germany — Rescuers recovered two more bodies today from the rubble of an ice-skating rink whose roof collapsed, raising the death toll to 11.

Six children were among the dead in the Bavarian town of Bad Reichenhall in southeastern Germany.

The collapse happened at 4 p.m. Monday, a school holiday. About 50 people were inside the rink, including many families.

Several people were still missing a day later. Fire official Rudi Zeif said "plenty of hope" remained but he denied reports of knocking sounds coming from the debris.

Fire service officials said the rink's flat roof appeared to have collapsed under the weight of snow. It was snowing heavily in the area and there were roughly eight inches on the roof at the time.

The snow hampered the recovery effort by clogging roads and delaying the arrival of equipment used to move the debris. Workers with dogs were able to search the building only several hours after the accident, once the remains of the roof were stabilized.

Cranes today lowered firefighters on long chains onto the broken roof to protect them against further collapse as they shoveled off the thick, heavy snow, which was still falling. Construction equipment cleared a path for more rescuers who dug with shovels and their hands in areas where heavy equipment could injure any survivors.

Police said 18 people were hurt and were taken to nearby hospitals. Another 16 escaped injury, they said.

Police spokesman Franz Sommerauer said rescue crews had gained access to around half the rink by early this morning.

Officials clung to hope of finding survivors after a 6-year-old girl was rescued with no major injuries more than five hours after the collapse. Rescue officials, however, expressed concern that anyone still trapped between the debris and the ice was at risk of hypothermia.

Among the confirmed fatalities were a 13-year-old boy, and two girls ages 7 and 8, one of whom was killed along with her mother. A 12-year-old boy who was rescued at the scene later died at a hospital.

Police and prosecutors were investigating the collapse. The wreckage of the roof pointed up from the center of the 1970s building at an angle.

An official with the town's ice hockey club said he had been told by town authorities 30 minutes before the accident that a regular practice session for youth players was canceled because there was a risk of the facility collapsing.

Mayor Wolfgang Heitmeier said the weight of the snow had been measured at midday and that it was well below the point at which the rink would have had to be closed.

Heitmeier told reporters that, following heavy snowfall in the afternoon, there had been some concern that those levels could be reached Tuesday, and the planned evening training was canceled as a precaution. The snow was to have been shoveled off Tuesday morning.

Bavarian broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk reported that a supervisor had ordered the last skaters off the ice seconds before the collapse. It also said loud creaking had been heard just before the accident.