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First Love Parade trial opens in Duisburg

Chuck PenfoldSeptember 1, 2015

Five years after the Love Parade ended in tragedy in the German city of Duisburg, the organizers are being forced to defend themselves in court. Twenty-one people died and hundreds were injured when a stampede broke out.

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Bildergalerie Geschichte Loveparade 2010 Duisburg Treppe Gedenken Opfer
Image: Imago/Gerhard Leber

The civil case that opened at the court in Duisburg on Tuesday marks the first time that the events of the 2010 event will be examined in a court of law.

Former firefighter Ralf Strutz, 53, is suing the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the organizers of the Love Parade for 90,000 euros ($101,000) in damages and compensation for pain and suffering.

Strutz' lawyer, Bärbel Schönhof, told public broadcaster WDR prior to the opening of the trial that her client has been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder since July 24, 2010, when he was sent from a command center into the crowd that was trying to either leave or enter the venue through a tunnel already jammed with people. Strutz was sent to see what was happening when surveillance cameras which first responders had been monitoring in the command center stopped transmitting.

This came after some of the patrons of theLove Parade began hoisting themselves out of the crush of the crowd by grabbing onto cables leading down from the surveillance cameras.

According to Schönhof, Strutz saw the fear of death in the eyes of many of the people in the crowd and also feared being suffocated himself.

Schönhof and her client argue that the risk that Strutz was exposed to on that day exceeded that which a firefighter can normally expect to be exposed to as part of his or her job.

"It would be like sending a firefighter into a burning house with a defective respiratory mask," Schönhof said.

While Strutz is the first to go to court over the over the Love Parade tragedy, he will not be the last. According to the court, at least eight more civil cases are to follow, mainly from Love Parade attendees.

No criminal trial yet

Five years after the event, though, nobody has faced charges in a criminal trial.

Early last year, charges, including negligent homicide and causing physical injury through negligence, were filed against six employees of the municipality of Duisburg and four employees of Lopavent, the company that organized the 2010 Love Parade. However, it is still not clear if or when they could be put on trial.