Process - Ratingen explosion: Survivors report fear of death
In the trial surrounding the murderous explosion in a high-rise building in Ratingen, several survivors reported their fear of death and testified that they had not expected an attack. When the window to the apartment door was smashed, they smelled a strong smell of decay, a 32-year-old emergency paramedic told the Düsseldorf district court on Friday.
The situation had then eased somewhat, as experience had shown that such an odor was no longer an acute emergency situation. But then events took a turn for the worse.
A 57-year-old man from Ratingen is on trial for nine counts of attempted murder. On May 11 of this year, he allegedly poured several liters of gasoline on police officers, firefighters and rescue workers and then set them on fire. The gas-air mixture exploded and a fireball injured the emergency services. He remains silent about the allegations. Police bodycams recorded the incident.
Two police officers, four firefighters, two paramedics and an emergency doctor were injured, some of them critically. Eight of the nine victims are likely to suffer permanent damage, the public prosecutor's office had announced. The court has scheduled nine trial days for the criminal proceedings until January 11 of next year.
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- Despite the history of criminality associated with gas attacks in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the defendant's alleged act of pouring gasoline and setting it on fire in a high-rise building in Ratingen resulted in explosions that caused severe injuries and fear of death among emergency services.
- The fear of death was palpable during the trial for the Ratingen explosion, as survivors recounted their experiences of smelling a strong decay odor upon breaking the window to the apartment door, a scent that evoked memories of past acute emergency situations but ultimately proved to be less dire.
- Düsseldorf district court heard testimony from various witnesses, including a 32-year-old emergency paramedic, who spoke about the initial fear and subsequent mixed emotions of the explosions resulting from the gasoline-fuelled attack in the heart of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia.
- The trial proceedings in Düsseldorf for the explosive incident in Ratingen have elicited a sense of apprehension and fear of further escalating criminality in the region, as the defendant persists in remaining silent and refusing to address the allegations against him.
Source: www.stern.de
