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Berlin: Activists of the group »Last Generation« block the Great Star at the Victory Column
Photo: Sven Kaeuler / dpa
According to the fire brigade, road blockades by climate protection demonstrators have so far hindered rescue operations in 119 cases in Berlin. This was said by fire chief Karsten Homrighausen in the Committee on Internal Affairs. The blockades have a "significant impact" on the times when the emergency vehicles are not available. Because of the ever-increasing number of ambulances used anyway, every additional minute in the traffic jam "hurts especially".
Berlin's Senator for the Interior, Iris Spranger (SPD), said of the blockades by the group "Last Generation", among others, that there had been a total of 20 hours of delay in fire brigade journeys since 2022.
Senator of the Interior: 579 blockades
In April, the Berlin public prosecutor's office announced that climate activists of the "Last Generation" were not complicit in the death of a cyclist who was run over by a concrete mixer in Berlin in October. After the accident on the morning of October 31, a rescue vehicle of the fire brigade was stuck in a traffic jam for a short time because two activists of the "Last Generation" had blocked a bridge. The vehicle could have lifted the concrete mixer to recover the trapped woman.
The fire brigade had announced shortly afterwards that the blockade had delayed the rescue. They had to "improvise" at the scene of the accident. This sparked a nationwide debate as to whether the activists were partly to blame for the woman's death.
The police have counted 579 blockades and 63 other incidents so far, said Interior Senator Spranger. About 450,000 hours of police operations were spent on this topic alone. In 900 cases, the police had issued procedures for fee notices against blockers, and in 669 cases, cost notices for the police operation had been issued. In most cases, the amount is 241 euros.
Spranger also said that the federal, state and district governments also wanted to have the damage to roads paid for by the blockers. Repairing a hole on the highway costs 3000,<> euros. Police chief Barbara Slowik emphasized that the dissolution of the blockades and the prosecution meant an "extremely high additional workload for the police". It also means a "maximum overload" in this area for the fine office.
Activists of the »Last Generation« blocked three streets at the Victory Column in Berlin on Monday morning. About twelve people were involved in the action, some of them stuck to the road, said a police spokeswoman.
The initiative made its protest clear on banners. According to information, it read, among other things: "Government course towards climate collapse = criminal". The »Last Generation« announced that protests are planned in numerous German cities on Monday.
With its actions, the "Last Generation" wants to increase the pressure on the federal government to take stronger action against the climate crisis. Among other things, it protests with road blockades. The group has given itself the name because it sees itself as the last generation before the tipping points, the critical limits of climate change. The initiative calls for a "socially just emergency plan".
wit/dpa