Status: 01/01/2023 4:41 p.m
The police and fire brigade in northern Germany deployed more on New Year’s Eve than in previous years. Two people died in SH. After the corona-related restrictions, fireworks were allowed to be lit again.
The first “normal” New Year’s Eve after the turn of the year under the sign of the corona restrictions, people in the north “celebrated” in some exuberant ways: Many streets and parks were littered with rubbish – tons of leftover fireworks, thousands of broken bottles and other rubbish are still likely to be left by the street cleaners busy for days if the wind doesn’t blow the rubbish out into nature first. There were numerous injuries from handling firecrackers and rockets. In view of the millions in damage nationwide and also the apparently growing number of attacks against police and fire brigade forces, Among other things, the Berlin police union spoke out in favor of a far-reaching ban on firecrackers. “We have seen across Germany that pyrotechnics are being used specifically as a weapon against people,” said GdP head of state Stephan Weh. This must come to an end.
Hamburg: Rocket explodes in the leg of a 32-year-old
In Hamburg, a 32-year-old was seriously injured in a pedestrian zone in the Billstedt district by another man’s New Year’s Eve rocket. According to the police, the ignited rocket penetrated the man’s lower leg and exploded there. The stranger who fired the rocket fled. The search is now on for a slim man in his mid-20s who was accompanied by a woman and three children.
Thousands of Hamburgers set off fireworks at the Landungsbrücken. Thousands also enjoyed themselves on the Reeperbahn – due to mild temperatures of around 15 degrees and a lot of alcohol, some even wore a T-shirt. Along Hamburg’s popular party miles, music and banging were often accompanied by sirens from the police and ambulances. A fire department spokesman said it was mainly about burning balconies and garbage cans. To dem To cope with the high volume of operations on New Year’s Eve, an additional 45 ambulances and ten fire engines were on the road for the fire brigade and rescue service in Hamburg.
Fire brigade: “Frightening record”
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The Hamburg fire brigade spoke of a “terrifying New Year’s Eve balance”. During the night, emergency services were “aggressively approached, literally shot at” with fireworks. In the Hausbruch district, for example, around 50 people stood around a burning garbage can. When firefighters tried to put out the fire, firecrackers were thrown at them. The windows of two parked cars were also smashed. The police took one person to the station.
At the Dehnhaide underground station there was a fight with about ten participants. During the altercation, a man was stabbed in the upper body. There was also a dispute at a bus stop in Horn, as reported by NDR 90.3. There, young people had fired a rocket at a man and hit him in the arm. He yelled at the young people until one of the youths threatened the man with a pistol and hit him on the head with it. The injured had to go to the hospital.
Police chief Jan Müller nevertheless spoke of a “peaceful and civilized coexistence” in Hamburg. One had expected even more “hustle and bustle”. With around 1,200 police operations, however, the level of the pre-pandemic period was not reached.
Lower Saxony: Suspected assassination attempt in Hanover
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The people of Lower Saxony also “greeted in” the new year 2023 with lots of private fireworks. In the state capital of Hanover, thousands crowded into the center. There have been many operations, said a spokesman for the police. Several people are being investigated for violations of the Weapons and Explosives Act. After an argument at the main train station, the police began investigating a 26-year-old on suspicion of attempted homicide. The man argued with a 25-year-old on New Year’s morning. After a brief fight, the younger man fell to the ground, and the older man then kicked him several times in the head, so that the 25-year-old had to go to the hospital.
In Garbsen (Hanover region), two groups of young people shot at each other. When the police came, the officers were attacked before the perpetrators fled. After midnight, pyrotechnics were again thrown at firefighters in Garbsen. Four firefighters were slightly injured. The police in Peine also reported attacks on officials: in the area of the north-south bridge, police forces from a crowd of around 60 people were attacked with firecrackers and fireworks. A police officer was injured and several emergency vehicles were damaged.
Ronnenberg: 46-year-old seriously injured after a firecracker detonation
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As a result of a firecracker detonation in Hanover-Ronnenberg, a man was seriously injured and had to undergo emergency surgery. In Hildesheim, several people were slightly injured by pyrotechnics – including at least two children. Among other things, around 12:30 a.m., an unknown person fired fireworks into a group of people across the street. A 12-year-old child was injured in the leg.
50 cattle break out because of New Year’s noise: accident with a car
About 50 cattle, who were probably startled by the New Year’s Eve banging, broke out of their barn in the Cuxhaven district. According to police, a 19-year-old man’s car collided with three of the cattle on a country road, killing at least two animals. The driver was slightly injured. Many of the escaped cattle were only caught again in the morning. According to the police, in Oldenburg, Osnabrück and Lüneburg the officials had to move out to fires, fights and disturbances. In Quakenbrück (Osnabrück district) a house was severely damaged by a fire on New Year’s Eve and a carport and a car were destroyed.
In the meantime, 40 residents of an apartment building in Bremerhaven had to leave their apartments because of a fire. Overall, the police in Bremen were called to around 280 operations on New Year’s Eve.
Schleswig-Holstein: Two dead on New Year’s Eve
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In Schleswig-Holstein, too, the police and fire brigade had to deploy hundreds of times on New Year’s Eve. A 21-year-old man died in Neumünster after putting a smoldering grill in the apartment. He suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, the fire department said. His 54-year-old mother was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
A carport caught fire in Elmshorn, and the fire spread to a semi-detached house. A critically injured resident later died in hospital. According to the fire department, strong winds helped the fire spread. At the top, more than 130 firefighters were deployed. Houses were also on fire in Lauenburg, Neumünster and in Havetoft in the Schleswig-Flensburg district. Several cars burned on a parking deck in Kiel-Elmschenhagen. The fire brigade in Kiel explained that the situation in the rescue service was already tense in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve. Conspicuous were therefore some serious injuries from fireworks.
There was also an accident in the district of North Friesland caused by a cow apparently frightened by firecrackers. It ran onto the tracks of the Westerland-Hamburg railway line and was struck by a train. The 60 passengers on the train were unharmed, and the animal died. The train route was closed for an hour and a half.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: 500 missions at night
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The emergency services also had a lot to do in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The police headquarters in Rostock registered around 300 emergency calls, most of them shortly after the turn of the year. The police in the inspection areas of Stralsund, Anklam and Neubrandenburg recorded around 200 operations on New Year’s Eve. These included disturbance of the peace, improper firing of pyrotechnics and altercations between revelers. The police said that the number of operations was roughly back to the level before the corona pandemic. Around 40 people were injured in accidents, when fireworks were set off or in fights.
Explosives thrown at City Hall – tens of thousands of euros in damage
In Grabow (Ludwigslust-Parchim district), according to the police, the town hall built in 1727 and the surrounding houses were massively damaged by pyrotechnics with high explosive power. “There was a sea of broken glass in front of City Hall,” said Mayor Kathleen Bartels. The damage is estimated at 30,000 euros. In Torgelow (Vorpommern-Greifswald district) there was a fire in an apartment after a firework rocket flew through a window into the interior. Four residents were taken to the hospital. Another fire with estimated damage of around 150,000 euros occurred in Carpin (Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district). A carport and a car parked underneath it were on fire.
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