The wild firecrackers leave their mark. At least five men die while handling illegal pyrotechnics, and emergency services complain again about attacks. In Berlin, several buildings are devastated by ball bombs, and dozens of apartments are currently uninhabitable.
In Berlin, illegal fireworks caused major damage on New Year’s Eve and injured numerous people, some seriously. According to the fire department, numerous facades were severely damaged in a violent detonation on Belziger Strasse in the Schöneberg district and windows were broken on a massive scale. 36 apartments are currently uninhabitable and two people have been taken to hospitals, said a spokesman for the Berlin fire department. According to him, the suspected unauthorized explosive device left behind a “battlefield”.
Experts assume that a so-called ball bomb is responsible for the damage. Because of their high explosive power, the explosive devices are actually not approved for general use in this country. According to the fire department, one such illegal firecracker also exploded in Bottroper Weg in the Berlin district of Tegel, there in the middle of a crowd. According to the fire department, eight people were injured, including two with life-threatening injuries. A small child was among the two seriously injured.
This Mercedes was also affected.
(Foto: picture alliance/dpa)
Many serious accidents occurred again this year when handling mostly illegal or home-made pyrotechnics. The emergency services speak of five dead, all of them men. Several other people were injured, some of them life-threatening.
390 arrests with Berlin
That alone Berliner Police arrested at least 390 people for various crimes during the New Year’s Eve shooting. According to a preliminary balance, 15 police officers and one fire department worker were injured, said Interior Senator Iris Spranger.
There were also attacks on police officers Leipzig: Garbage burned, barricades were built, around 50 people attacked police forces with fireworks and bottles. According to the investigators, the registered crimes mainly involved dangerous bodily harm, breach of the peace and violations of the Explosives Act.
36 apartments are currently uninhabitable.
(Foto: picture alliance/dpa)
In München Several hundred people rioted and, according to the police, attacked several officers. A police spokeswoman spoke of an estimated 200 to 300 people from the left spectrum on the Wittelsbacher Bridge.
“Can’t take this macho behavior anymore”
The police in Like According to his own statements, he was attacked by a large group of people when the officials wanted to ensure the deployment of an emergency doctor. Patrol cars arrived in front of the emergency doctor and were approached by around 70 to 80 people. Using a service dog and pepper spray, it was possible to enable the emergency doctor to work.
In view of the renewed attacks on emergency services on New Year’s Eve, the police union (GdP) is running out of patience when it comes to the appearance of some young men in socially disadvantaged areas. “I can no longer tolerate this macho behavior on the streets and in social media,” said federal chairman Jochen Kopelke to the newspapers of the Funke media group. There are always young men from socially disadvantaged areas who think they rule the streets.
With a view to the attacks against police officers and firefighters, Kopelke called for quick consequences for the attackers: “In Leipzig, Munich, Cologne and Hamburg we were targeted and injured. There must be quick and noticeable consequences for the perpetrators and noticeable effects also in the left-wing extremist scene have.”
Accidents with self-made and illegal firecrackers
Am Bonn main station Young people shot a New Year’s Eve rocket at a sleeping homeless man, the police said. The man suffered shock. The suspects are said to have filmed the attack with a cell phone.
There were two fatal firecracker accidents Saxony: In Oschatz, east of Leipzig, a 45-year-old died after setting off a so-called large fireworks bomb in the F4 category, the police announced. Such fireworks can only be purchased in Germany with official permission. The man suffered serious head injuries in the explosion and died in hospital. In addition, according to police, a 50-year-old in Hartha, near Chemnitz, was fatally injured while handling fireworks.
At Paderborn A 24-year-old died while handling a firecracker. The accident occurred before the turn of the year on the outskirts of Geseke, said a police spokeswoman. Rescue workers could only determine that the young man was dead. The force of the explosion suggests that it was an unauthorized firecracker. The relatives received pastoral care.
A 20-year-old also died in an explosion Hamburgin his case it was a self-made firecracker. A New Year’s Eve firecracker also killed a 21-year-old in the north of Brandenburg. The man apparently detonated a ball bomb in Kremmen, a police spokesman said.
A number of firecracker victims – including children
A ten year old boy was… Rostock seriously injured on New Year’s Eve when a firecracker exploded right in front of his face. It is still unclear who threw the firecracker in the direction of the child, according to the police. In Guestrow A 50-year-old man had to be resuscitated. According to police, he suffered serious facial injuries after he threw a firecracker into a pipe, which exploded inside.
A man was seriously injured on New Year’s Eve Traunstein when lighting a firework battery. The 39-year-old had ignited the battery and did not move far enough away from it, the police said. Parts of the explosive charge hit his face. According to the information, the man was taken to a special clinic with severe facial and eye injuries.
That alone Berlin Accident Hospital (UKB) reported 15 victims of firecrackers on New Year’s morning. Five of them were seriously injured in their hands, faces and eyes by so-called bullet bombs, including children, the clinic said on X. Other people suffered burns or hearing loss.
Single-family home destroyed
There were also a number of fires, some of which caused extensive damage. Homes, garages, sheds, cars and dumpsters were on fire. A single-family house in Leutenrod im Westerwald burned down completely on New Year’s Eve, the police said. It is suspected that incorrect handling of fireworks caused the fire. The police estimate the damage at around 350,000 euros.
Presumably a New Year’s Eve rocket set off in Rhineland-Palatinate Neuwied A warehouse in which, among other things, wood had been stored caught fire. Adjacent houses were also damaged by the intense heat.
Many Berliners had a completely different problem: on New Year’s Eve of all days, the water supply failed in parts of the city due to a burst pipe in the Wedding district. Shortly before midnight, the water company gave the all-clear.
