The cyclist who was critically injured in an accident with a concrete mixer in Berlin is dead. The police and public prosecutor announced this on Friday. The 44-year-old died in hospital on Thursday evening. According to the police, the woman had previously been declared brain dead. The accident caused a nationwide stir and discussion. According to the fire brigade, a special vehicle that was supposed to help free the injured person under the truck was stuck in a traffic jam on the city highway. This is said to have been triggered by an action by the climate protest group “Last Generation”.
The police are investigating two 63 and 59-year-old climate activists for failing to provide assistance or for the disability of people providing assistance. After the cyclist’s death, the accusation of negligent homicide would also be considered, said a spokeswoman for the Berlin public prosecutor’s office on Friday. An autopsy of the 44-year-old’s body will be ordered to clarify what specifically led to her death. An essential point is the question of causality and who is responsible for what, the spokeswoman explained.
The Berlin fire brigade assumes that the rescue of the woman was delayed by several minutes because the special vehicle was stuck in traffic. However, a spokesman admitted that the formation of a rescue lane was also problematic. Since the technology was not available, the rescuers at the scene of the accident had to improvise, according to the fire department. This resulted in delays. The fire brigade did not provide any information as to whether this had an impact on the health of the cyclist.
After the accident, the truck driver was attacked and injured by a man with a knife. The alleged perpetrator is a 48-year-old German from the homeless milieu. He was placed in a psychiatric hospital, according to the prosecutor.
The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and its authority were involved in the investigation early on because of the complexity of the case and the many open questions, said the spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office. It is still too early to provide information about the exact course of the accident. According to previous information from the police, the truck and cyclist both drove on Bundesallee in the direction of Bahnhof Zoo. The woman fell and was run over by the truck. There is a mandatory cycle path at the scene of the accident.
The group “Last Generation” expressed their condolences to the relatives of the cyclist. “We are shocked,” spokeswoman Carla Hinrichs said on Friday. At the same time, the group announced that it would continue: “The federal government should end our protest – now that it gets the crisis under control. Until then, the resistance will continue,” said a statement.
After the accident, the tone has sharpened in response to the actions of the climate protest group. Numerous politicians are calling for tougher action, and climate activists are increasingly being attacked on social networks. The “Last Generation” said: “Whatever public hate speech we may face as people will not prevent us from doing the only morally right thing: not to remain in an all-important crisis, but to get started.”
Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey expressed her sadness: “At this moment our thoughts are with the deceased, with her family, her friends. Everything else is taking a back seat at this moment,” said the SPD politician on Twitter on Friday. “It remains the task of the police and the courts to clarify the circumstances of her death quickly and carefully.”
