Hafencity
Investigations into a scaffolding accident in Hamburg with four deaths
According to the fire department, the scaffolding fell from the eighth floor into the basement. photo
© Bodo Marks/dpa
Why did scaffolding in Hamburg’s Hafencity collapse? How did the accident with several deaths come about? What seems clear is that it will take a long time until there is certainty.
After the devastating accident on a large construction site in Hamburg In Hafencity, with four deaths, investigations into the cause of the accident continue today. According to the police, specialists from the State Criminal Police Office took charge. “Our state building inspectorate is on site with several construction site inspectors to support the emergency services in determining the cause of the accident,” explained urban development senator Karen Pein (SPD) yesterday afternoon.
According to initial findings, scaffolding fell into an elevator shaft yesterday morning. According to the fire department, four workers were killed and one was critically injured. According to the urban development authority, the victims come from Bulgaria.
Complicated rescue
It was initially completely unclear why the scaffolding collapsed. There were also building materials on the platform that fell into the depths, said a fire department spokesman. The spokesman initially did not want to comment on media reports that an overload of the platform might have led to the collapse of the scaffolding.
According to the fire department, the scaffolding fell from the eighth floor into the basement. Debris reached the second floor. The rescue was complicated. High-altitude rescuers and a technical platoon from the volunteer fire department were on duty for hours. According to the fire department, the difficulty was that the rescue workers had to secure many parts of the scaffolding and at the same time work their way down floor by floor. The operations manager described the mountain of rubble as a “giant Mikado” made of scaffolding poles.
Emergency responders on site
Around 1,400 workers regularly worked on the construction site, but yesterday – a bridge day in Hamburg because of Reformation Day – there were only a good 700, said the fire department spokesman. After the accident, the building was closed and everyone working there had to leave the area. Emergency pastors were called in to look after the emergency services and eyewitnesses. A crisis intervention team was also deployed.
The Überseequartier is part of the Hafencity, which is considered Europe’s largest inner-city urban development project. A large shopping center with many shops, restaurants, entertainment, offices, a cruise terminal, hotels and more than 1000 apartments is being built on the 14 hectare site on the Elbe.
There have been several serious accidents on the Hafencity construction sites. Only on September 2nd, four workers were injured, some of them life-threatening, in a similar accident at a construction site on Hamburg’s Elbe bridges – not far from Hafencity.