Mayor Jens Meyer (SPD) calls the old town of Weiden in the Upper Palatinate the “parlor”. There, in the middle of the pedestrian zone, where one pretty listed building is lined up next to the other, is the restaurant where several guests share a bottle of champagne late on Saturday evening. Shortly thereafter they collapse, one man from the group dies a little later on Sunday night in the hospital.
Ecstasy is said to have led to the death of the 52-year-old man from the Schwandorf district. An initial toxicological examination of the champagne bottle revealed: “There were things in it that actually don’t occur in champagne,” said the chief public prosecutor in Weiden, Gerd Schäfer. The bottle contained the drug Liquid Ecstasy, according to the public prosecutor “in a significant concentration” https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/. “It had a toxic, poisonous effect,” said Schäfer. According to media reports, the champagne bottle, which holds several liters, is said to have been in its original packaging and only opened at the table. Accordingly, there was apparently nothing to indicate that the bottle had been tampered with beforehand. The Weiden local newspaper The new day according to the manager of the restaurant herself brought the bottle to the table. Those affected were probably regulars. The landlady is said to have drunk the champagne herself. She too had to go to the hospital.
It is not yet clear how the drug got into the champagne bottle. Investigators are currently ruling out a targeted attack. According to the public prosecutor, there is a suspicion of negligent homicide. Detected in all directions. “There are suspicions.” However, there were no further details about the suspects.
The focus of the investigators is on the origin of the champagne bottle. “The distribution channel is carefully examined,” said Schäfer. It will be checked whether or where or by whom the bottle was manipulated. It would be perfectly possible to open a bottle, pour in the drugs and reseal the bottle in a way that would not be noticed. The manufacturer has not yet been contacted, said Schäfer. The guests in the restaurant are said to have immediately complained about the taste of the champagne. “It was probably conspicuous, not to say horrible,” said Schäfer. The ecstasy contained in the bottle was highly concentrated. Even a small amount was enough to cause physical reactions. According to information from the German Press Agency, the investigators are currently not assuming that one of the guests poured the drug into the bottle.
An autopsy of the deceased 52-year-old man was also ordered and carried out in forensic medicine in Erlangen. Investigators suspect drug poisoning as the cause of death.
In the 42,000-inhabitant city of Weiden, the “dismay and dismay are great,” Mayor Meyer told the SZ. “We are still at a loss for words about the tragic events. Events that we could not have imagined happening in Weiden. Above all, our thoughts are with those who are struggling to recover and who are grieving for their loved ones.”
At first, rumors circulated in various media that the restaurant guests had poisoned themselves with hydrocyanic acid. According to the police, there was a fire brigade operation at the Regensburg University Hospital in connection with the events in Weiden. Apparently, one or more affected people from Weiden were admitted there who were suspected that they had “come into contact with a hazardous substance,” according to the Regensburg fire brigade. The emergency room had to be closed for a short time, and the fire brigade and staff initiated decontamination. A short time later, however, there were laboratory results and the all-clear: no hydrocyanic acid.
It is clear so far that several guests between the ages of 33 and 52 ordered a bottle of champagne in the popular Weiden restaurant and then shared it. Soon after, all of them – five men and three women – showed signs of poisoning. When police and rescue workers arrived at the scene, they were lying on the ground, some of them having seizures. The eight people affected came to different hospitals, but for the 52-year-old from the Schwandorf district, any help came too late. According to the police, one victim has now been able to leave the clinic, the others are at least no longer in mortal danger, according to the police.
A special commission of the Weiden criminal police called “Markt” has taken over the investigation. Some of the affected restaurant guests could already be questioned on Monday, and more witnesses are to follow.
Pictures from the local newspaper show police drug-sniffing dogs being led into the restaurant. It is not far from Weiden to the Czech border. According to Mayor Meyer, there have not been any particular problems with liquid ecstasy in the city so far.