The restaurant in downtown Weiden is cordoned off over a large area, the police are securing tracks. Passers-by keep stopping in the pedestrian zone and looking at the Italian restaurant. Many are stunned by the drama that unfolded here just hours ago. “Incredible,” says one man. A woman says she is “shocked” and that her thoughts are with her family.
Guests drank from the same champagne bottle
Restaurant visitors had watched a TV show together on Sunday night, all drinking champagne from the same bottle. A spokesman for the Oberpfalz police operations center confirmed this to the BR on Monday morning. This bottle was obviously contaminated.
According to media reports, the bottle was still in its original packaging and was only opened at the table. The spokesman said it was still unclear what substance was actually in it.
Prosecutor speaks of “poisonous effect”
“It had a toxic, poisonous effect,” said senior public prosecutor Gerd Schäfer on Monday. “There were things in it that don’t actually happen in a champagne.” The toxicological studies have been completed. There are already results. It is still unclear whether these will be published on Monday. According to information from the BILD newspaper, a large quantity of the drug ecstasy was mixed into the champagne bottle. The prosecutor would not confirm that.
An autopsy of the fatality could be ordered today. A police spokesman said in the morning. “I don’t think we can definitively name the contents of the bottle today,” he explained. A special commission called “Market” has taken over the investigation. Among other things, witnesses should be questioned on Monday.
Eight guests were taken to the hospital, one of whom died
Shortly after midnight, the police and emergency services were alerted. When the emergency services arrived at the restaurant, some of the guests, between 33 and 52 years old, were lying on the floor. “Some of them showed symptoms of poisoning,” reports a police spokeswoman.
The eight guests affected were taken to the hospital, but for a 52-year-old from the Schwandorf district, any help came too late. He died on Sunday night. According to the police, the others are not in mortal danger, and one man has since been able to leave the clinic.
Investigation into involuntary manslaughter
Many people in Weiden are now asking themselves how the incident could have happened. Rumors and speculation quickly do the rounds. Was there poison in the drink? In any case, a passerby suspects that “criminal energy” must be behind it – “and that in our small town,” she adds.
The police keep a low profile. You do not assume intent and investigate in all directions, said the police spokeswoman on Sunday the Bavarian radio. There is a suspicion of negligent homicide, but no specific person is currently listed as the suspect. The “Market” special commission is investigating at full speed. The police are looking for witnesses who saw what happened.