Three days after the accident with a cement mixer, the trapped cyclist was declared brain dead. The police had previously announced that the woman had died, but later corrected themselves. In the accident, a special vehicle was delayed due to a roadblock by climate activists.
A cyclist who was run over by a cement mixer in Berlin on Monday, whose rescue was hampered by climate blockades, according to the fire department, has been declared brain dead. The woman will continue to be treated in intensive care in the clinic, according to a police press release. At first it was said that the 44-year-old had died. The police later corrected their statements.
After the accident, a special vehicle from the fire brigade arrived late at the scene of the accident due to a road blockade by climate activists. After the accident, the police began investigations into two of the blockers, aged 59 and 63. A police spokesman said the ads were written because of the failure to provide assistance and the disability of those providing assistance. Activists from the "Last Generation" group stuck to a so-called overhead sign on the 100 city highway on Monday, delaying traffic.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser called for a determined prosecution of possible criminal offenses in climate protests. "When crimes are committed and other people are endangered, every line of legitimate protest is crossed," said Faeser. "None of this has anything to do with a democratic debate. The criminals must be prosecuted quickly and consistently."
After the accident, several politicians had already criticized the climate protest. "We condemn this behavior," said Berlin's Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey on Tuesday. It is the state government's clear position that this form of protest is "inappropriate". It does not serve the purpose, but leads to a hazard. To what extent the activists are to blame for the fact that the cyclist could not be helped more quickly, the police and courts must now assess. However, it was already the 18th rescue vehicle that did not get through to an accident, Giffey reported.
According to the SPD politician, the Berlin public prosecutor's office has already initiated 729 proceedings against activists and applied for 241 penal orders. The mills of the rule of law would "grind very thoroughly," said Giffey. "Climate protests must not endanger people," said Transport Senator Bettina Jarasch from the Greens. If that was the case, then it was "simply appalling" and shouldn't be repeated.
The Berlin opposition parties expressed sharp criticism of the demonstrators. "The life of a young woman is at stake because climate chaos is blocking the streets of Berlin," said the domestic policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group, Frank Balzer. The judiciary must take action with all its possibilities. The state chairman of the Berlin FDP, Christoph Meyer, called the activists "criminal offenders".
Activists from the group "Last Generation" announced on Monday that some of them had protested on the city highway and disrupted traffic. The group cannot rule out that the vehicle's delay "is due to a traffic jam caused by us".
Guaranteeing maximum security is always the top priority, said the group's spokeswoman, Carla Hinrichs, on Tuesday in the ARD "Mittagsmagazin". There is always a rescue lane to let emergency vehicles through. At the same time, Hinrichs justified the choice of means of protest. "If we look at history, civil resistance that disrupted was the most successful," she said.
While rescue workers were taking care of the woman, an unknown attacked the 64-year-old concrete mixer driver with a knife. The attacker then fled the scene of the accident. According to the "B.Z." have arrested. According to the report, a Tesla accidentally driving past the scene of the accident recorded the act with a car camera. He is said to be a homeless 48-year-old man. Both the cyclist and the truck driver were taken to the hospital after the accident.
