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CRIME

Two girls saved by Tugce A. come forward

UPDATE: Police have found the two most important witnesses to the incident that led to Tugce A.'s deadly attack. The teenagers, aged 13 and 16, came forward on Monday. Tugce A. died on her 23rd birthday, two weeks after she stepped in to their aid, resulting in a deadly attack by their harassers.

Two girls saved by Tugce A. come forward
People lay flowers at a memorial for student Tugce A.

"Tugce will be missed by us all – we're going to miss her warm smile," her father told the Bild am Sonntag. "The first day without Tugce is like a day with no tomorrow."

After being declared brain dead by doctors in the Offenbach hospital, her family said good bye on Friday with birthday cake. Below the window, 1,500 well-wishers gathered in front below, holding a vigil, commending the 23-year-old for her civil courage.

Tugce A. had been in the hospital since November 15, when she saw a group of men harassing a pair of girls in a McDonald's. The group then turned on her in an attack that went from the fast-food restaurant into the parking lot. She then fell into a coma that she would never wake from.

GALLERY: Hundreds mourn good samaritan

Her body was then taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine (RMIF) in Frankfurt am Main where an autopsy will be performed to find the exact cause of death. They also hope to find out if the deadly blows were already dealt out in the restaurant or the further violence in the parking lot.

One man, 18, is in custody following the attack. Police are charging him with grievous bodily harm causing death.

They are feverishly searching for the two women Tugce A. helped.

Reactions to her death have come from across the country. President Joachim Gauck wrote the family a letter of condolence, saying the young woman had "earned all our gratitude and respect" through her actions.

"Where other people look away, Tugce acted with exemplary bravery and courage," he wrote.

Photos of Tugce at a vigil held in her honour. Photo: DPA

A change.org petition calling for Tugce A. to receive a posthumous honour has already gathered more than 100,000 signatures.

McDonald's also made a statement, saying the brutal attack "has left us all stunned, especially the employees at the restaurant in Offenbach Kaserlei."

Doctors from the clinic in Offenbach have also said that even in death, the 23 year old is still helping people. Today, people around Germany have a second chance at life thanks to the organs she donated. 

The family has also pleaded with people to not share a video that has surfaced on the Internet of the fight.

"The family does not want this video to be shown," a family friend told Focus Online

Until now, only police had access to the security camera footage of the McDonald's parking lot that night. A campaign saying "She showed us courage, now we have to show her respect" is encouraging people to not watch or share the video, which is currently embedded in Bild's coverage of the story.

"We don't know how the video went public on the Internet," a police spokesperson said. .  

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FLOODS

German prosecutors drop investigation into ‘unforeseeable’ flood disaster

More than two and a half years after the deadly flood disaster in the Ahr Valley, western Germany, prosecutors have dropped an investigation into alleged negligence by the local district administrator.

German prosecutors drop investigation into 'unforeseeable' flood disaster

The public prosecutor’s office in Koblenz has closed the investigation into the deadly flood disaster in the Ahr valley that occurred in the summer of 2021.

A sufficient suspicion against the former Ahr district administrator Jürgen Pföhler (CDU) and an employee from the crisis team has not arisen, announced the head of the public prosecutor’s office in Koblenz, Mario Mannweiler, on Thursday.

Following the flood disaster in the Ahr region in Rhineland-Palatinate – in which 136 people died in Germany and thousands of homes were destroyed – there were accusations that the district of Ahrweiler, with Pföhler at the helm, had acted too late in sending flood warnings.

An investigation on suspicion of negligent homicide in 135 cases began in August of 2021. Pföhler had always denied the allegations.

READ ALSO: UPDATE – German prosecutors consider manslaughter probe into deadly floods

The public prosecutor’s office came to the conclusion that it was an extraordinary natural disaster: “The 2021 flood far exceeded anything people had experienced before and was subjectively unimaginable for residents, those affected, emergency services and those responsible for operations alike,” the authority said.

Civil protections in the district of Ahrweiler, including its disaster warning system, were found to be insufficient.

READ ALSO: Germany knew its disaster warning system wasn’t good enough – why wasn’t it improved?

But from the point of view of the public prosecutor’s office, these “quite considerable deficiencies”, which were identified by an expert, did not constitute criminal liability.

Why did the case take so long?

The investigations had dragged on partly because they were marked by considerable challenges, said the head of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Criminal Police Office, Mario Germano. “Namely, to conduct investigations in an area marked by the natural disaster and partially destroyed. Some of the people we had to interrogate were severely traumatised.”

More than 300 witnesses were heard including firefighters, city workers and those affected by the flood. More than 20 terabytes of digital data had been secured and evaluated, and more than 300 gigabytes were deemed relevant to the proceedings.

Pföhler, who stopped working as the district administrator in August 2021 due to illness, stepped down from the role in October 2021 citing an incapacity for duty. 

The conclusion of the investigation had been postponed several times, in part because the public prosecutor’s office wanted to wait for the outcome of the investigative committee in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament.

READ ALSO: Volunteer army rebuilds Germany’s flood-stricken towns

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