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CRIME

Fare dodgers crowding Berlin prisons

Hundreds of Berliners who end up in prison each year for riding public transportation without tickets are stressing the city’s already overcrowded prisons, daily Der Tagesspiegel reported on Monday.

Published: 15 December 2008 10:54 CET
Fare dodgers crowding Berlin prisons
This train terminates in prison - without a valid ticket. Photo: DPA

“At least 155 of our 480 inmates have been jailed in lieu of payment for fare dodging,” Udo Plessow, warden of Berlin’s Plötzensee correctional facility told the paper. “Actually we have more than that, but when the men are sentenced because of another crime as well, they don’t get registered for fare dodging separately,” he said.

The debt counseling office in the city’s Neukölln district often points out that not paying the fine for Schwarzfahren, or fare dodging, will end with jail time, the paper reported. But many people either ignore this or simply don’t have the money to pay fines. German public transport runs on an honor system where passengers buy tickets that are sometimes checked by plainclothes transport employees. The lack of turnstiles or other formal ticket enforcement makes fare dodging simple for those who don’t care to part with their pocket change.

The Berlin city administration of justice offers a community service program for those who can’t pay the fine for fare dodging, though. Schwitzen statt sitzen, which means “sweating instead of doing time,” allows the small-time criminals to work off their fines. “Unfortunately not everyone is ready and willing to do that,” Daniel Abbou, the organization’s spokesperson told Der Tagesspiegel.

Most of the fare dodgers who end up in prison also have alcohol or drug problems which can render them incapable of the community service, prison warden Plessow said. “Some think the country has to provide them with the option to get from A to B. And those are the ones who don’t work off the fine – and then they have to do time in the end,” he said.

The environmentalist Green party says the policy is absurd, and has been fighting to classify fare dodging as a petty offense, reasoning that prisoners cost the government €80 per day, when their social benefits outside of jail would cost the state as little as €10 per day.

“Welfare recipients and people with low income should get a free public transport pass,” Green party legal expert Benedikt Lux told the paper.

BERLIN

Warning of toxic smoke after fire breaks out at Berlin factory

More than 180 firefighters wearing protective suits were on Friday tackling a major blaze at a metal technology firm in Berlin's Lichterfelde area as authorities warned of toxic smoke.

Published: 3 May 2024 16:35 CEST
Warning of toxic smoke after fire breaks out at Berlin factory

The blaze broke out in the first floor of metal technology factory ‘Diehl Metal Applications’ on the Stichkanal in Lichterfelde, south-west Berlin around 10:30 am.

On Friday afternoon, a fire brigade spokesperson said an area of over 2,000 square metres was on fire in the four-storey building.

As of 5 pm, the fire was reportedly still not under control.

According to the spokesman, the fire had spread to the roof, with parts of the building collapsing.

As the company also stores and processes chemicals in various quantities, there are concerns over harmful fumes in the smoke. 

“We can confirm that chemicals are also burning in the building,” said the fire service. “Sulphuric acid and copper cyanide were stored there. There is a risk of hydrogen cyanide forming and rising into the air with the smoke.”

Hydrogen cyanide is a highly toxic substance.

The Berlin state government said that residents “in the affected areas of the toxic fumes caused by the fire” were warned through the NINA warning app at midday.

People walk in the area near the fire in Berlin on Friday. Residents have been urged to stay inside and keep their windows closed.

People walk in the area near the fire in Berlin on Friday. Residents have been urged to stay inside and keep their windows closed. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

The Berlin fire department also said on X that people in a large area of Berlin and the outskirts, shown on the map in this tweet, should keep their windows and doors closed, turn off air conditioning and avoid smoky areas. People have also been asked to avoid the area. It includes a large part of the Grunewald forest. 

 In the immediate vicinity, hazardous substances had been measured. According to a fire and rescue spokesperson, no injuries have been reported. 

A spokesman for Diehl Metall, to which the plant belongs, said on request that the chemicals mentioned were also only kept in small quantities at the plant.

According to the Diehl spokesman, the location is used for electroplating parts for the automotive industry. The Diehl Group is a large arms company; however, no armaments were produced at the Berlin plant, Nitz said.

Emergency response authorities requested the help of the in-house fire brigade from the firm Bayer, which is familiar with fighting against chemical fires, Berlin newspaper Tagesspeigel reported. 

Which areas are most affected?

Pupils and teachers from nearby schools have been sent home as a precaution, while several shops around the site have closed. 

On Friday afternoon, a warning message popped up on many mobile phones with a shrill sound, according to which there is “extreme danger”.

“After evaluating the weather conditions and the corresponding wind direction, the flue gases move from the scene of the incident in a northerly direction,” the fire department told the German Press Agency.

Flames seen at the fire in Berlin's Lichterfelde on Friday.

Flames seen at the fire in Berlin’s Lichterfelde on Friday. Shops around the area closed. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

According to the fire department spokesman, however, it was not initially clear at what distance the smoke could still be hazardous to health.

Parents of students at the Fichtenberg-Gymnasium in Steglitz received an e-mail stating that classes had been stopped and all students had been sent home. However, the local Abitur continued with the windows closed.

Surrounding roads were closed while flames leapt into the sky, according to a dpa reporter on site.

A neighboring supermarket was completely enveloped in white smoke. The surrounding area is a mixture of commercial area, allotments, housing estates and shopping centre.

According to eyewitnesses, the smoke appeared to be heading north. The fire department published a map on which the affected areas are marked. Parts of Spandau, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Reinickendorf, among others, can be seen. People should avoid the affected area and drive around it as much as possible, the fire department suggested. Even if no smoke is visible, windows and doors should remain closed and ventilation and air conditioning systems should be switched off, it said.

In the immediate vicinity of the fire, the police made announcements with a megaphone and called on people to leave the streets, go home and keep windows closed.

The cause of the fire has not yet been established. 

With reporting by DPA.

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