Attacks on rescue workers, many arrests in Berlin
It's a New Year like many years before - with celebrations, fireworks and emergency services in a state of emergency. At least there are no major riots in Berlin, but there are once again attacks on officers and emergency services. New Year's Eve ends in tragedy for a young man in Koblenz.
People all over Germany welcomed in the New Year with lots of fireworks. In Berlin, tens of thousands celebrated at the big New Year's Eve party at the Brandenburg Gate, where there were fireworks for the first time in several years. After last year's riots, the celebrations in the capital took place under tighter security measures. Although there were no major riots, the police again reported attacks on officers and rescue workers.
According to the police, more than 230 arrests had been made in Berlin by around 2 a.m. on Monday. In addition, 15 officers were injured, the police announced via the online service X. At numerous locations throughout the city, emergency and rescue services were attacked with pyrotechnics, alarm guns and bottles. The situation calmed down again around 3 am.
At the Neptune Fountain not far from Alexanderplatz, 500 people threw pyrotechnics at each other before midnight. When police officers intervened, they were reportedly shot at by a group of 200 people with fireworks. Several people were arrested.
In Gropiusstadt in the Neukölln district, police reported that a parked police car was shot at with a bullet bomb and damaged so badly that it had to be taken out of action. Nine arrests were also made in Neukölln after people tried to make Molotov cocktails out of glass bottles, scraps of cloth and petrol.
Fire department in continuous operation
The Berlin fire department was also in constant action: according to their own information, the emergency services were called out more than 500 times in just a few hours, including to several fires in apartments and a garage complex in the Wilmersdorf district.
In Berlin, the police were deployed in large numbers. The fire department also increased the number of firefighters after the riots at the turn of the year last year. On New Year's Eve 2022/23, emergency and rescue services were massively attacked in Berlin and other cities. In some cases, the police had to be deployed to protect firefighters from attacks while extinguishing fires.
On Thursday, the Berlin police and fire department appealed to the public in a video published on the online platform X. "Don't attack us. Don't shoot us with firecrackers, rockets or alarm guns," it said.
In other German cities, the turn of the year was relatively calm compared to last year. In Stuttgart, the police gave an initial positive assessment of their operations around the Schlossplatz. By 4 a.m. on Monday, the officers had reportedly recorded around 30 charges, most of which were violations of the Explosives Act. According to the police, there were no "serious incidents".
Man fatally injured when a firecracker was set off
The emergency services in cities such as Mainz and Bochum made similar statements. According to the police in Koblenz, an officer was hit by pyrotechnics but remained unharmed. However, there was a tragic accident in the Rübenach district of Koblenz: an 18-year-old was fatally injured when a firecracker was set off and died despite attempts at resuscitation.
In Cologne, security measures around the cathedral were stepped up once again for New Year's Eve. According to the head of the Cologne police traffic directorate, Frank Wißbaum, around 1,000 police officers were deployed to secure the area and protect the public. The Cologne police had previously announced that they had taken three more terror suspects into custody in connection with possible plans to attack the cathedral.
The security forces in Cologne have been on heightened alert since Christmas due to a terror warning. Following the "danger warning", the Cologne police searched the cathedral with sniffer dogs on the day before Christmas Eve. No explosives were found. The Christmas masses took place in the following days under heightened security measures.
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Despite the increased security measures, the police reported attacks on officers and rescue workers during New Year's Eve celebrations in Berlin, which is known internationally. In the spirit of unity and peace, it's unfortunate that such incidents occur on a significant global occasion like the turn of the year.
Source: www.ntv.de
