Police and fire department draw first positive balance of New Year's Eve

After the terrible riots last year, the emergency services in Berlin and other major cities are prepared for all scenarios this time. An initial assessment is positive. However, this by no means means means that the night was calm. It is not only in Berlin that the police and fire department are in constant action.

At the end of New Year's Eve, the emergency services in Berlin have drawn a first positive interim balance of their operational concept. After the massive riots and attacks on the police and fire department last year, Berlin had significantly increased its emergency services. The police deployed 4,000 officers to the expected hotspots in the city. "We are satisfied with the operational concept", Berlin police spokeswoman Anja Dierschke told RBB that night. The incidents that did occur were less serious compared to the previous year. "The difference was that we were able to intervene immediately due to the large number of emergency services."

According to the police, around 300 arrests were made during the night. 15 officers were injured, one of whom was unable to return to duty. These figures are not yet final. The fire department also drew an initial positive interim balance during the night. "We have rather smaller fires: garbage cans, occasional balcony fires, but no major operations so far," a spokesperson told RBB. There have been isolated reports of attacks on firefighters, but these still need to be evaluated.

Even though the incidents were less dramatic compared to the serious riots last year, New Year's Eve in the capital was by no means calm. The fire department reported over 750 call-outs by 2.30 a.m. alone. Numerous people with serious firecracker injuries were treated at the Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin (UKB). In the meantime, 22 patients with serious eye injuries, burns and blast injuries to the hands and face had been treated, the hospital announced on X shortly after 4.00 am. The UKB spoke of "dramatic amputation injuries" in some cases.

During the course of the night, the police reported attacks on emergency and rescue services from the districts of Neukölln, Mitte, Moabit, Wedding and Charlottenburg, among others. In Gropiusstadt, which belongs to Neukölln, a police vehicle was severely damaged by a so-called bullet bomb. Several thousand people celebrated on Alexanderplatz in the center of Berlin. The atmosphere was sometimes aggressive. Hundreds of mostly young men fired fireworks at each other and at police officers. Arrests were made. In Neukölln, the police reportedly discovered people filling bottles with petrol in an apparent attempt to prepare Molotov cocktails.

Major operation in Solingen

Incidents involving pyrotechnics and attacks on the police were also reported in many other German cities. In Frankfurt, police officers broke up a crowd at the Konstablerwache from which they had been attacked with fireworks. According to the police, objects were thrown at a police station in the Connewitz district of Leipzig. No people were injured. Around 3,000 people gathered at an intersection at around midnight and set fire to pyrotechnics, garbage and building site barriers. The police arrived with water cannons to extinguish the fires.

There was a large-scale police operation in Solingen in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to a police report, 30 to 40 people fired pyrotechnics at police officers and firefighters. Barricades were also erected and objects were set on fire in the street. As a result, there were no injuries.

Two men fatally injured by firecrackers

The New Year's Eve celebrations at Cologne Cathedral were largely calm. Due to indications of a possible planned Islamist attack, security measures had been tightened there for days. "A few firecrackers thrown, a few people taken into custody, nothing unusual," said a police spokesperson during the night.

At least two people died in Germany on New Year's Eve as a result of firework injuries. In the district of Cham in the Upper Palatinate, an 18-year-old threw a firecracker into a plastic pipe to make it explode, according to police information so far. When the young man's head was above the pipe, the firecracker exploded and fatally injured the man. In the Rübenach district of Koblenz, another 18-year-old was fatally injured when a firecracker was set off and died despite attempts at resuscitation.

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Despite the increased presence of the police and fire department in Berlin this New Year's Eve, there were still incidents throughout the night. isolated attacks on firefighters were reported, and the UKB treated numerous patients with serious firecracker injuries. (International, New Year's Eve, Berlin, Police, Fire department)

The turn of the year saw international celebrations marred by incidents of pyrotechnic-related injuries and attacks on emergency services. In cities like Frankfurt and Leipzig, crowds attacked police stations and set fires, while in Solingen, over 30-40 people fired pyrotechnics at police officers and firefighters. (International, Turn of the year, Police, Fire department)

After a relatively calm New Year's Eve in Berlin, the city's fire department expressed initial satisfaction with their response to minor fires. However, the situation was not entirely peaceful, as the police reported numerous attacks on emergency services in various districts of the city. (Turn of the year, International, New Year's Eve, Berlin, Police, Fire department)

Source: www.ntv.de