I.In connection with the devastating demolition of a gravel pit in Erftstadt during the flood disaster last July, the police raided a mine operator, among others. The public prosecutor in Cologne said on Tuesday that the investigation was based on the suspicion of negligent causing of flooding by failure to do so, the building risk and violation of the Federal Mining Act. In the accident, numerous houses in the Blessem district near the gravel pit were washed down and collapsed.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, more than 140 police officers searched more than 20 office and residential addresses in North Rhine-Westphalia and one property in Thuringia. According to the current status of the investigation, there is a suspicion that there was no flood protection wall on the southern edge of the so-called old area of the gravel pit that complies with the official regulations. In addition, the embankments were “impermissibly steep”.
Both aspects could be the reason why large volumes of water entered the gravel pit on July 15 and 16. A so-called retrograde erosion then led to the fact that the district of Blessem was submerged and several residential buildings collapsed.
It is investigated against the owner, lessor and supervisory authority
According to the information, the investigations are directed against the owner and lessor of the open pit, five accused of the operating company based in Bergheim and four accused of the Arnsberg district government. According to the Federal Mining Act, this is the responsible supervisory authority.
According to the public prosecutor, the searches took place in Bergheim, Erftstadt, Cologne and Dortmund in particular. In order to seize documents relevant to the investigation, unsuspicious consulting and civil engineering companies as well as surveying offices are also searched.
Erftstadt was hit particularly hard by the storm in July. The Erft, which overflowed its banks, caused severe flooding. Several houses and parts of a historic castle collapsed in landslides. The Cologne district government initially reported several deaths in the Blessem district, but no victims were found in the collapsed houses.
Heavy rains had triggered catastrophic flooding on rivers in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia in mid-July. Many communities, especially in the Rhineland-Palatinate Ahr Valley, were devastated. In Rhineland-Palatinate, 134 people were killed in connection with the flood, in North Rhine-Westphalia there were 48 deaths.
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