According to the Fire Department, the special vehicle, which was supposed to help free the accident victim trapped under the truck, got stuck in a traffic jam – and, according to the Fire Department, this would have been triggered by an action by the Fire Department. Firefighters Last Generation protest group. The vehicle then later arrived at the crash site, it was said – the fire department spoke for several minutes. However, a spokesperson admitted that the formation of a rescue runway was also problematic.
The cyclist died in hospital on Thursday night from her serious injuries – an autopsy is to shed light on what specifically led to her death. Berlin police have brought criminal charges against two climate activists for, among other things, failing to provide assistance. A spokeswoman for Berlin’s public prosecutor said it was also being examined whether the manslaughter charge could be considered.
Report: The doctor did not want to use a special vehicle
The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported on Friday (online edition) that the emergency doctor who treated him – who had already been with the accident victim – had already decided not to use that special vehicle anyway. This emerges from an internal note from the fire brigade, as the paper writes.
So the doctor, who was not stopped by the traffic jam, briefly thought about lifting the cement mixer. This “would likely take longer, as the medical situation worsened,” the paper quoted in the note. The Fire Department declined to comment on the report. The Public Ministry has not yet confirmed the existence of the note on request.
picturedesk.com/dpa/Paul Zinken The scene of the fatal accident that is now the subject of much debate
media criticism
The state-of-the-art group sent their condolences to the cyclist’s family. “We are shocked,” spokeswoman Carla Hinrichs said on Friday. At the same time, the group announced that it would continue: “The federal government should end our protest – now that the crisis is under control. Until then, resistance will continue,” she said in a statement.
Activists had already harshly criticized the media and announced new protests. Since Monday, a wave of accusations, untruths and hate speech has been washing over us, they explained. It was terrible that the cyclist had an accident on the road. “We are dismayed and in mourning.” But the media audience exploited the accident.
Climate protectors complain of hostility in Austria
In Austria, too, a spokesperson for the last generation reported to the APA about numerous hostilities against activists – including death threats and insults from right-wing extremists. In Vienna, the group will stop blocking the streets until January 9 to give the federal government time to “save people” with more climate protection measures.
The protest continues across Austria. Next-generation offshoots are currently emerging in Linz, Graz and Innsbruck. The spokesperson left open whether the discussion in Germany could lead to actions in Austria to be met with growing rejection from civil society. Climate protest is “not a popularity contest”, but protests are always very popular.
Federal government warns activists
The German federal government has warned climate activists against illegal actions. The commitment to climate protection must “bring us together as a society” and “must not happen outside the framework of our laws,” said deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner. German climate protection minister Robert Habeck (Greens) told newspapers from the Funke media group: “Forms of protest that put people at risk are wrong.” Several other political voices were also critical.
There was also a reaction from politics in Austria: “Shocked” was the president of the Viennese FPÖ, Dominik Nepp, with the death of the cyclist who was in an accident. “If the law is not tightened soon, whereby intentional street blocking is severely punished, we should also expect in Vienna that rescue services will be hampered in their operations by these climate terrorists. As in Berlin, this may have fatal consequences,” said Nepp.