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Hamburg Elbe: Divers are looking for a missing person
Photo: Georg Wendt/dpa
In Hamburg's Elbe, divers are currently searching for a missing person near the Köhlbrand Bridge. The search had been expanded from the Köhlbrand to the main Elbe river, a spokesman for the fire department said in the evening. According to the information, a push convoy had previously collided with a mooring boat, which then sank. According to initial findings, the missing person is said to have been a crew member. According to police, the accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. The missing person could not be found until late in the evening.
Just one day earlier, an inland waterway ship sank in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg. The freighter “Alster” sank in the Blumensand harbor on Tuesday morning for unknown reasons. The 80-meter-long ship was carrying 3,500 liters of diesel and 1,400 tons of potassium chloride (salt) at the time of the accident. The fire brigade secured the scene of the accident and oil barriers were set up as a precaution. The ship's master remained uninjured. During the accident, diesel spilled into the water. According to the environmental agency, around 5,000 square meters of water were contaminated.
The barge is scheduled to be salvaged next week. »We assume that the rescue will begin next week. This will probably take a few days,” said Sinje Pangritz, spokeswoman for the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) on Wednesday. According to the Hamburg environmental authority, the inland waterway vessel should be salvaged as quickly as possible in order to keep the impact on the environment as low as possible.
czl/dpa