Accidents: 23-year-old killed by flagpole – start of process

accidents
23-year-old killed by flagpole – start of process

In remembrance: Flowers lie on the square in front of Kiel City Hall. Photo: Wolfgang Schmidt/dpa

© dpa-infocom GmbH

Who is responsible for the tragic death of a trainee from a fallen flagpole in Kiel? Two Bavarians now have to answer for negligent homicide.

The approximately 50 new trainees from the city of Kiel are gathering for a welcome photo on the town hall square. Then a truck reverses into a nearby flagpole. The 14 meter high bar breaks and kills a 23-year-old.

For this tragic incident on August 3, 2020, a 62-year-old truck driver and his 75-year-old passenger have had to answer to the Kiel district court since Monday. The public prosecutor has accused the men from Bavaria of negligent homicide.

Several witnesses described the incident with the truck in the process. “He just crashed into the flagpole,” said one trainee. He called caution. A photojournalist from the “Kieler Nachrichten” was also interviewed, who wanted to take pictures of the trainees on a small town hall balcony and noticed how the truck reversed. “We were screaming from above.” The flagpole cracked and then lowered. “So that many still had time to take cover,” he said.

The public prosecutor’s office sees it as proven that the two men contributed to the accident by illegally entering the area and reversing the truck with a crane without the necessary instruction. According to the indictment, they entered the square without a permit in order to be able to transport construction material for the renovation of the town hall facade.

The ban on driving on the square was visible to both men through a traffic sign, said the prosecutor. When preparing to reconnect the trailer later, the truck finally hit the flagpole while reversing.

Unlike the public prosecutor’s office, judge Sebastian Schwarz questions whether the 75-year-old instructed the truck driver to reverse at all or whether he made a mistake. If this was not the case, the man could not be prosecuted.

The mother of the 23-year-old appears as a joint plaintiff. She followed the first day of the hearing in the hall. The woman wanted to know who was responsible for the death of her daughter. The process is a bit of grieving. “The family suffers extremely,” said her lawyer. His client felt that the defense attorneys’ offer to speak to the accused about what had happened was too late.

According to the truck driver’s defense attorney, it was a chain of unfortunate circumstances. “According to the current status, it is not possible to assign fault.” There are too many ambiguities and contradictions for that. This applies, for example, to the question of whether or not there was permission to drive on the site.

On Monday, the court heard several police officers as witnesses. One of them questioned the driver in August 2020. The 62-year-old said he had not seen the flagpole in the rear-view mirror. “The whole thing should have happened at walking speed.” More witnesses were to be questioned in the afternoon. The Mayor of Kiel, Ulf Kaempfer (SPD), was also an eyewitness to the accident. After the accident, the trainees, as well as the driver and front passenger, were looked after by a crisis intervention team.

According to earlier information from the public prosecutor’s office, the investigations also revealed a material defect in the flagpole. The manufacturer is threatened with proceedings due to possible contributory negligence. However, the investigations are still ongoing. In the proceedings against the two men from southern Germany, the verdict could fall on May 11th. Negligent homicide carries a penalty of up to five years in prison or a fine.

dpa

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