Fatal accident – ​​climate activists wrongly pilloried?

The climate activists of the group "Last Generation" face a serious accusation: Are they partly responsible for the death of one of their roadblocks?

One thing is clear: after a serious accident involving a cyclist who was hit by a concrete mixer in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin on Monday, a special vehicle from the Berlin fire brigade that was supposed to help with the rescue was stuck in traffic on the way to the scene. Not only because of the morning rush hour traffic - but above all because of a road blockade by the "last generation".

A spokesman for the Berlin fire brigade said after the operation: "The rescue was delayed as a result." The woman succumbed to her serious injuries on Thursday evening.

The debate as to whether “Last Generation” activists could be complicit in the cyclist's death has been in full swing ever since. Not without reason. Because the so-called rescue vehicle of the fire brigade had been alerted to lift the truck and free the woman trapped under the truck. However, due to the blockade by the climate activists, he only arrived at the scene with a delay.

Now, however, an e-mail from the medical director of the rescue service of the Berlin fire brigade has become known. From the point of view of the climate activists, the letter that was sent to the management of the fire brigade on Tuesday reads like an acquittal. The doctor comes to a clear assessment: The late arrival of the rescue vehicle was irrelevant. The e-mail is available to WELT. The "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported about it first.

The cyclist was “first approachable” when the emergency doctor arrived, the email said. After assessing the situation, the emergency doctor and the head of operations of the fire brigade decided "that an immediate rescue is necessary due to the very serious and time-critical injury pattern and that this should be carried out by pushing or driving the truck away".

Raising the truck with the rescue vehicle of the fire brigade, on the other hand, was "briefly considered". According to the assessment of the forces deployed on site, this would have taken too long. According to the note, the emergency doctor also feared that a "slow lifting" of the truck could have increased the bleeding in the woman's leg.

The emergency doctor, the medical director noted in the letter, decided not to lift the truck but to let it drive away. According to the note, she would have made this decision even if other technical options had been available “by means of rescue vehicles or cranes”. This procedure was also correct, writes the medical director in his assessment. In summary, the note says: "Due to the present situation (...) there were no disadvantages due to the late arrival of the rescue vehicle."

Does the accusation that the "last generation" could possibly be complicit in the death of the cyclist turn out to be unfounded? At least that's how the e-mail from the medical director of the fire department's rescue service reads.

It is remarkable, however, that the management of the fire brigade kept the assessment under wraps for days. According to its spokesman, Thilo Cablitz, the Berlin Senate Department for the Interior, in whose area of ​​responsibility the fire department works, was not aware of the mail.

In fire brigade circles, the reason given was that the letter was not a final official statement, but merely the individual opinion of the medical director. The head of operations responsible on the day of the accident or the technical director could come to a different conclusion. The statement that the rescue vehicle was in any case irrelevant for the - ultimately unsuccessful - rescue of the cyclist, therefore has no conclusive character.

The interior administration also warned against "speculation". "The final clarification of the entire facts on the basis of the commissioned report and the other objective evidence is the responsibility of the judiciary," said spokesman Cablitz. An expert opinion should now clarify whether the woman's death could have been prevented. The investigations of the public prosecutor's office are directed against two men of the "last generation" who caused the traffic jam due to the blockade.

The "last generation" meanwhile demanded a "correction" - and a "discussion with the federal government" with reference to the reporting of the e-mail from the medical director. The climate protest had "no influence" on the care of the accident victim. The group also announced that they would continue to "resist in the streets".