Fifth Season
One dead in Rhineland-Palatinate, two seriously injured in Hesse – accidents overshadow carnival celebrations
Carnivalists in Cologne (symbolic image)
© Action Press
In the carnival strongholds, the fifth season is approaching its peak. Tens of thousands of people celebrated the days in parades at the weekend. However, in St. Goarshausen, Rhineland-Palatinate, the festival ended in tragedy.
20-year-old falls under carnival float and dies
A 20-year-old man fell under a moving carnival float in the city on the Rhine on Saturday afternoon after the parade had already ended and was fatally injured. A police spokesman in Koblenz said on Sunday that it was still too early to say anything about the circumstances of the accident. The investigation was still ongoing and witnesses were being interviewed. According to the spokesman, speculation that the trailer of the carnival float tipped over is not correct.
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Two men fall from carnival floats in Hesse
There was also an incident in Hünfelden, Hesse. On the way to a carnival parade, two men were seriously injured when they fell from a carnival float. According to police reports on Saturday, there were several people on the trailer. According to the information, the 50-year-old and the 31-year-old fell from a great height from the body onto the road while driving. They tore the structure down with them. A 56-year-old, who was also on the car, was slightly injured by falling parts. According to police information on Sunday, the investigation is continuing.
Brawl on the sidelines of a carnival event
In Bad Hönningen, Rhineland-Palatinate, a 38-year-old was injured in the head in a fight involving several people involved on the sidelines of a carnival event. According to their own statements, the officers came across around 60 carnival participants, some of whom were very drunk and also aggressive, in front of a hall early on Sunday morning. It was said that the injured man was still rioting in the hospital in Linz. The police are investigating assault.
Other celebrations without major incidents
In other parts of Germany, the events initially went off without major incidents. In Cologne, the groups wore costumes they designed themselves, which they said they had been working on since the summer holidays. The history of the “Schull- und Veedelszöch” goes back to the Middle Ages. Back then, journeymen from craft businesses made fun of their arduous work. Today it is mainly students who run along on the train and pick up topics that have to do with their everyday lives. This year there were around 7,500 people.
The president of the Wasunger Carneval Club, Marcel Kißling, estimated the number of spectators along the streets at the traditional carnival parade in the southern Thuringian carnival stronghold of Wasungen to be at least 10,000. The atmosphere was excellent, and the dry and sunny weather also played into our hands. Between 1800 and 1900 people were involved in the move.
Tens of thousands of people were also expected to take part in parades on Sunday in other cities, such as Frankfurt, Ludwigshafen, Mannheim, Cottbus, Braunschweig, Erfurt, Nuremberg, Würzburg and Coburg.