HafenCity
After a fatal scaffolding accident in Hamburg: rescue of the fourth victim is ongoing
Several workers died on Monday at the construction site in Hamburg’s HafenCity when scaffolding collapsed
© Bodo Marks / DPA
The question of why now comes to the fore. 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 accident on a large construction site in Hamburg In Hafencity, with four dead and one seriously injured, investigations into the cause of the accident continued on Tuesday. According to the police, specialists from the State Criminal Police Office took charge. However, the full investigation can only begin once the difficult rescue work has been completed.
“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) on Monday afternoon.
Four people die in a scaffolding accident in Hamburg
According to initial findings, scaffolding fell into an elevator shaft on Monday morning. According to the fire department, four workers were killed and one was critically injured. The man underwent emergency surgery at the Asklepios Clinic St. Georg on Monday. His condition is still very critical due to multiple injuries, as dpa learned from informed circles.
In order to rescue the fourth fatality, which was not possible on Monday, 25 fire brigade personnel undertook extensive technical safety measures on Tuesday. The man was buried by pieces of scaffolding. “Due to the high risk to ourselves of our emergency services on site,” a specialist company of special industrial climbers was called in to secure the scene of the accident and make rescue possible, as the fire department reported.
The reason for the scaffolding collapse remains unclear
Why the scaffolding collapsed will likely remain unclear for some time. A police spokesman did not want to give any information as to when the cause of the accident would be clarified. A fire department spokesman said there were also building materials on the platform that fell into the depths. 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, and pieces of debris protruded into the second floor. The rescue work on Monday was complicated: height 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.
1,400 people work on the construction site in Hafencity
Around 1,400 workers regularly worked on the construction site, but on Monday – a bridge day because of Reformation Day on Tuesday in Hamburg – 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. Just 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.