Between the fire-fighting foam, worn clothes and two cans of beer are pieces of a few hundred. They belong to two men who narrowly escaped death on Sunday night in front of Schöneweide station. A stranger had watered them and their belongings around 11 pm with a flammable liquid and set them on fire. An act that shook the city
"The two men screamed terribly in pain," says a woman who lives in front of the Cajamarcaplatz train station. She watched the incident, knows the two, who pitched their camp almost daily in front of the station. The men were calm, and they did not scold them either. The woman who dropped a flower at the Schöneweide S-Bahn station on Monday morning put several coins in her cup.
In the evening, residents and men's acquaintances watched over the scene. About 150 people took part Monday night. The day before was directed against "hostility and exclusion of the homeless," said the Center for Democracy Treptow-Köpenick (ZfD), which had called. At the scene of the crime, there was a sign saying: "Grief – Fury – Solidarity". People have laid flowers and candles. Donations for the homeless were collected in a small bowl. Even the homeless, but also many young people came to the vigil. Pbaders by the station building paused in the silent memory. The small rally was peaceful, the police said.
Dozens of people gathered for a vigil at S-Bahnhof Schöneweide
This is the fourth homeless attack in and around stations since December 2016. However, the number of undeclared cases says Dieter Puhl, chief of mission of the station.
A homicide is investigating an attempted murder. According to Berliner Zeitung, investigators are looking for an elderly man, presumably Russian. He comes as a delinquent in question, although the motive is still not clear.
A victim floats in mortal danger
It is certain, however, that the brave intervention of a couple has saved the lives of the victims. The woman and the man ran into a nearby snack bar, found a fire extinguisher there. Then the man stifled the blazing flames during this time. A third pbaderby saved the homeless dog from the burning blankets.
Rescuers finally took the men to the Marzahn Accident Hospital, specializing in the treatment of severe burns. The condition of one of the victims was very critical, it was said Monday afternoon. The man is in mortal danger.
The victims are Lothar D., a 62-year-old qualified driver, and his 47-year-old friend, the experienced bricklayer Andy V. The two Berliners have been living on the streets for years. They are known in the district around the Schöneweide station
The victims have an argument with an unknown man
Both men like to live on the street, report the inhabitants. For her, it was a piece of freedom. The paved area in front of the elevator, which carries pbadengers to the basement of the station, is their place. There, they sat almost every day, sometimes with three or four friends of the stage.
On Sunday, they would have quarreled with a Russian-speaking man, reported employees of adjacent stores. The staff of the 5th homicide commission do not know much about this man. Investigations are difficult because there is no indication of his identity
The victims themselves were not interviewed because of the seriousness of the injuries, according to the Criminal Investigation Bureau. We only know that the last two victims arrived in the afternoon with another man in dispute.
The homeless have been repeatedly attacked
The recent case is reminiscent of a fire attack on a homeless person on Christmas Eve 2016, which made headlines throughout l & # 39; Germany. A group of young people had tried at the Schönleinstraße underground station in Neukölln to light a sleeping man. Pbadengers could prevent worse, the homeless remained unscathed. Just six months later, the main perpetrator was sentenced to two years and nine months in jail.
In January of this year, a stranger from the Yorckstraße metro station in Schöneberg attacked three homeless people. He stabbed one of the three men with an object in his leg. He kicked a 50-year-old homeless man. At 36, he hit several times with his fist in his face. Subsequently, the abuser fled.
A year earlier, several youths attacked a homeless person sitting on a bench at the Mehringdamm metro station in Kreuzberg. A thug kicked the face of the 32-year-old man and beat him repeatedly. Two other writers beat the homeless on the bench. They fled when a witness intervened. The authors got up. (with dpa)
