05/11/2022 14:39 (act 05/11/2022 15:09)
Police operation in downtown Hanau ©APA/dpa
In central Hanau, in the German state of Hesse, two children are believed to have been victims of a crime and died on Wednesday. According to a spokeswoman for the Hanau Public Ministry, investigators assume a homicide. There is evidence of a family history in the crime, but the spokeswoman did not provide further information. Investigators initially searched for a suspect to no avail.
Bystanders alerted police at 7:25 am after discovering the seriously injured boy on the ground in front of a tall building. When officials arrived, he did not respond further, police and the district attorney said. Police officers then found the lifeless girl on the balcony of a ninth-floor apartment. The emergency doctor could only determine death. The boy was taken to Hanau City hospital, where he succumbed to serious injuries shortly afterwards. The two children are due to be autopsied later in the day, the prosecutor’s spokeswoman said.
According to the first indications, it is likely that they are a seven-year-old girl and an eleven-year-old boy who lived in the apartment, said the prosecutor’s spokeswoman, but their identity has not yet been determined. “The prosecutors and criminal police investigators are assuming a homicide and are now focusing on what happened at the house in the morning,” the statement said. Neighbors would also be questioned extensively and tracks secured, the spokeswoman said. In light of the ongoing investigations, further findings are unlikely to be published until this Thursday, she said.
The city’s mayor, Claus Kaminsky (SPD)m was shocked. “It’s a shock that is going through the city again,” he told the newspaper “Bild” (Wednesday). “Now we have to wait for more investigations from the police. Unfortunately, there’s a lot to be said for a family drama.” And also: “I didn’t know the family personally, but what we know is that they have had socio-educational support for a few months now”.
Police cordoned off the streets around the house with duct tape and patrol cars. Police had a drone fly up to the ninth floor to photograph the crime scene from as many angles as possible. Bushes were removed in front of the house in search of traces. “In such an act, we conducted the entire program,” said a police spokesperson.
The aging residential building has a total of eleven floors, with a shop and café on the ground floor. There is also a doctor’s office in the building, which is located in the lively city center and not far from the market square of the city with around 100,000 inhabitants in the Rhine-Main area.
Locals stood on the sidewalk and looked out onto the balcony, where an investigator in a white protective suit could be seen. “You’re shocked, especially when you’re a mother,” said a 32-year-old woman traveling with her two young children. The racist attack took place in the neighborhood a good two years ago. During the terrorist attack on February 19, 2020, a 43-year-old German murdered nine Hanau citizens on racist grounds.