Three people went on trial this week over the collapse of an ice rink in southern Germany two years ago that killed 15 people, most of them children.
Civil engineer, architect and construction head all charged in deaths
TRAUNSTEIN, GERMANY
Three people went on trial this week over the collapse of an ice rink in southern Germany two years ago that killed 15 people, most of them children.
Many relatives of the victims attended the trial of a civil engineer, who was involved in planning and building the roof of the building in Bad Reichenhall, an architect responsible for the construction, and the former head of the local building construction office.
As the trial opened, two of the suspects — construction head Rolf R. and architect Horst P.— told the court they were innocent. Their last names were withheld as is customary in German proceedings. But the third suspect, civil engineer Walter G., admitted miscalculations.
“I should have been more critical,” he said.
The suspects were charged with 15 counts of negligent manslaughter and six of bodily injury caused by negligence. A fourth suspect, the manager of the town’s construction department, is to be tried separately.
The wood-beamed structure of the ice rink in the Bavarian town of Bad Reichenhall collapsed suddenly on Jan. 2, 2006.
In addition to the 15 people killed, 36 were injured.
Prosecutors in nearby Traunstein charged that faulty construction, combined with sloppiness and neglect, caused the collapse.
In his opening arguments, prosecutor Guenther Hammerdinger said that if only one of the accused had complied with requirements, the disaster could have been avoided.
The suspects are accused of having miscalculated the load-carrying capacity of the roof, built in 1972, and of neglecting inspections.
Several families of victims joined the trial as co-plaintiffs as allowed under German law.
Associated Press
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