Rhineland-Palatinate: Investigations after a fatal fall from a roller coaster

After the fatal fall from a roller coaster at the amusement park in Klotten an der Mosel, an autopsy and an expert report should also advance the investigation.

Rhineland-Palatinate: Investigations after a fatal fall from a roller coaster

After the fatal fall from a roller coaster at the amusement park in Klotten an der Mosel, an autopsy and an expert report should also advance the investigation.

The police continued their investigation on Monday. Traces had already been secured and witnesses questioned, the investigators said. Speculations about a technical defect, negligence or carelessness said that the cause of the accident remained unknown for the time being. The death of a visitor on Saturday afternoon was determined in all directions.

According to information from Monday, the Koblenz public prosecutor's office wants to clarify in a death investigation whether the fall "was the result of the fault of a third party". For the time being, there is no initial suspicion of criminal behavior. The 57-year-old visitor from St. Wendel in Saarland is said to have slipped in her seat in a curve before she fell off the track from a height of about eight meters and suffered fatal injuries. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful.

According to the public prosecutor's office, they wanted to apply to the responsible investigating judge for a timely autopsy of the victim. In addition, an expert should examine the roller coaster for a possible cause of the accident. The public prosecutor's office also wanted to consult "approval and test documents from supervisory authorities".

According to the amusement park in Klotten in the Cochem-Zell district, the roller coaster, which opened in 2004, is 532 meters long and 17.5 meters high. She is curvaceous with "maximum gradient and up to 60 kilometers per hour fast". According to its own statements, the park remained closed on Monday, as it had on Sunday, “to support the authorities in quickly clarifying the course of the accident”.