On New Year’s Eve, there were riots in Kreuzberg and Neukölln in particular Photo: Christian Mang
From BZ/dpa
The turn of the year 2022/2023 is still in the bones of the emergency services. In Berlin, New Year’s Eve became a disgrace!
In at least 20 cases, barricades were erected and emergency services attacked. That is the current status after discussions with firefighters from the night, said fire department spokesman Thomas Kirstein on Friday.
Kreuzberg: Burning barricades were built near Kottbusser Damm Photo: Spreepicture
Even experienced firefighters reported aggressiveness and violence that they had never experienced before. “We had to experience a whole new intensity of the attacks,” says Kirstein. The emergency services were lured into ambushes. Volunteer firefighters were also affected.
During the operations of the fire brigade, 15 rescuers were injured. Kirstein explained that nothing has changed in this number, which was already mentioned on New Year’s Day.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey and Interior Senator Iris Spranger (all SPD) visited the Neukölln fire station on Friday and spoke to the emergency services concerned.