Ahr valley flood - Three expert opinions to get the Ahr Valley investigation underway
The relatives of victims of the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley aim to achieve the resumption of investigations by the public prosecutor's office with the help of three reports from experts. Lawyer Christian Hecken, who represents some of the affected parties, announced that the complaint against the discontinuation of investigations was based on 141 pages. Experts in disaster control, danger prevention law, and hydrology (the science of water) have prepared reports that are intended to prove that the investigations were wrongly terminated.
The public prosecutor's office in Koblenz announced the decision to discontinue investigations in mid-April. Previously, they had been investigating former county administrator Jürgen Pfohl (CDU) and an employee of the crisis staff, among others, for negligent homicide by omission. They came to the conclusion, among other things, that it was an extraordinary natural disaster whose extreme extent was not foreseeable for the responsible authorities of the Ahrweiler district.
The relatives do not want to accept this decision of the investigators and had already announced their intention to lodge a complaint shortly thereafter. Now, the grounds for the complaint have been submitted. The decision on the complaint must now be made by the General Public Prosecutor's Office in Koblenz. Lawyer Hecken represents, among others, the Orth family, whose daughter Johanna died in the flood, and Werner Minwegen, who lost both parents.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, 136 people died in the flood, of whom 135 died in the Ahr region and one person in the Trier area. Thousands of houses were destroyed, roads and bridges were washed away. One person is still reported missing.
- The experts' reports aim to provide evidence for the resumption of investigations in the Ahr Valley flood disaster, which occurred in the Ahr Valley of Rhineland-Palatinate.
- Despite the public prosecutor's office in Koblenz ending investigations into the flood disaster, citing it as an extraordinary natural disaster, the affected families are seeking justice through a complaint, led by lawyer Christian Hecken.
- The complaint, consisting of 141 pages, challenges the decision of the public prosecutor's office in Koblenz to discontinue investigations against former county administrator Jürgen Pfohl and an employee of the crisis staff for negligent homicide by omission.
- The suspected negligence in dealing with the Ahr Valley flood disaster, which resulted in the death of 135 people and devastation in the Ahr valley, is the focus of the complaint filed with the General Public Prosecutor's Office in Koblenz.
- As a result of the flood disaster in the Ahr valley, numerous crimes have been uncovered, and the public prosecutor's office in Koblenz has been faced with challenging tasks in dealing with the aftermath of this significant natural disaster.
