Rhineland-Palatinate
Fatal accident: pedestrian falls under carnival float
Police officers secure evidence on the carnival float. photo
© Thomas Frey/dpa
It was supposed to be a fun festival and ended in disaster: a young man dies after a tragic accident with a carnival float. Now the police are investigating how this could have happened.
The visitors to the carnival parade in St. Goarshausen had no idea that the day would end in tragedy: a 20-year-old man fell under one late Saturday afternoon Carnival float hit and suffered fatal injuries. The investigators now have to clarify the question of how the disaster could have occurred. The young man from the Rhein-Lahn district died of his injuries in hospital. The investigation into the accident is ongoing. The numerous witnesses to the incident were cared for by pastors at the community association.
“Our thoughts are with the accident victim and those affected and we would like to thank all the rescue workers who are on duty,” said the mayor of the city on the right bank of the Rhine, Nico Busch. The accident site on federal highway 42 remained closed until the final police documentation. Pedestrians could avoid the closure along the Rhine, cars should bypass the closure, it was said. St. Goarshausen is close to the famous Loreley Rock.
According to the mayor, the end of the carnival in the Loreley Hall was initially canceled to prevent people from the hall from hindering the rescue workers. Shortly afterwards, the event continued in a reduced format, it was said.
There was also an accident in Hesse in connection with a carnival parade. On the way to a parade, two men (50 and 31 years old) fell from a carnival float in Hünfelden in the Limburg-Weilburg district and were seriously injured.